Los Angeles-based Pilar Wiley makes ceramic vessels that serve as canvases for her repeating patterns and pictorial themes. Her surfaces express the idiosyncrasies of mark making, referencing global traditions of decorative abstraction, as well as imagery drawn from plant life and her childhood overseas. Influenced by the forms and techniques of West and South African pottery, Wiley advances a personal mythology through the repetitive ceramic process. Capitalizing on clay’s ritualistic associations, she endeavors to transform the information she consumes. A recent series of lamps and vessels with double apertures marks a new focus on the sculptural possibilities of the vessel.

Solo and two-person exhibitions include Whitesnake, Orthodox, Los Angeles (2019) and Building & Grounds, Household, Los Angeles, with Krysten Cunningham (2017). Recent group exhibitions include The Vessels Variety Show, The Feel, Los Angeles (2023); Make Arrangements, Uprise Art, New York (2021); Twisted Dream, John Wolf, Los Angeles (2021); Design for the Future, Los Angeles Design Festival (2021); Sample Platter – Contemporary Ceramic, Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University (2020); Indulge, Art Movement, Los Angeles (2018); Urns, Cooler Gallery, New York (2018); Busted, Cooler Gallery, New York (2017); Void + Collapse, 55-59 Chrystie St, New York (2016); Pictures and Vessels, Keystone Gallery, Los Angeles (2015); Pot Heads, Design Matters, Los Angeles (2014); West Coast ’14 Californian Ceramics & Wall Hangings, Idee Shop, Tokyo (2014); Near Dark, Young Art, Los Angeles (2013); and The Planter Show, For Your Art, Los Angeles (2012). Wiley presented work at NADA, Miami Beach and Paramount Ranch, Los Angeles in 2015. Since 2020, her vessels have been featured in Sotheby’s showrooms in Palm Beach, FL and East Hampton, NY. Her work has appeared in Dwell, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Wallpaper*, W, Harper’s Bazaar, Artspace, Sight Unseen, Gardenista, The Garden Edit, AnOther Mag, and M le Magazine du Monde. She holds a BA in Visual Art from Brown University.

A selection of pieces are available at Holly Hunt, Sotheby’s, Uprise Art and Artspace. For currently available works, please email [email protected].