PDX Contemporary Art is pleased to present Properties of Layers, an exhibition of new sculptures by artist Bean Finneran.

The works in this exhibition are an exploration of the properties of clay and are constructed with clay in different states—in its liquid state, dry fractured state, soft state, and frozen state. Focusing on the layering of material, the natural drying of the final forms, and color- the works are abstract and deeply connected the natural world.

Bean Finneran is an experimental theater director, actor, and visual artist based in California. She received her MA from the Museum School at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including shows at PDX Contemporary Art (Portland, OR), Gail Severn Gallery (Ketchum, ID), Kunstverein Bellevue-Saal (Wiesbaden, Germany), XXe Biennale Internationale de Ceramique Contemporaine (Vallauris, France), The Philadelphia Art Alliance (Philadelphia, PA), Perimeter Gallery (Chicago, IL), Baltimore Clayworks (Baltimore, ND), Nancy Margolis Gallery (New York, NY), Braunstein/Quay Gallery (San Francisco, CA), Mills College Art Museum (Oakland, CA), John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, WI), Montalvo Gallery (Saratoga, CA), San Jose Museum of Art (San Jose, CA), Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (Kansas City, MO), Eyre/Moore Gallery (Seattle, WA), Racine Art Museum (Racine, WI), Palo Alto Art Center (Palo Alto, CA), The Foothills Art Center (Golden, CO), Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (Eugene, OR), Galerie Favardin & de Verneuil (Paris, France), Holter Museum of Art (Helena, MT), Mendhall Sobieski Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), Loyola University Museum of Art (Chicago, IL), Neuhoff Gallery (New York, NY), and Linda Ross Contemporary (Detroit, MI).

Finneran’s work is included in several public collections including those of the Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento, CA), Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (Kansas City, MO), the Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, WA), Mills College Art Museum (Oakland, CA), San Jose Museum of Art (San Jose, CA), and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, WI).

Mentions, reviews, and features of Finneran’s work have been included in San Francisco Chronicle, Willamette Week, Art Ltd., The Oregonian, Artweek, Traditional Home, Ceramics Monthly, American Ceramic, and Art in America.