page_title: Beth Cavener Stichter
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Beth Cavener Stichter / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: “The Question That Devours” Year: 2012 Dimensions: H 64 x W 35 x D 25 in. Materials: Stoneware, paint Installation: Wall Piece
context_page_description: Beth Cavener, also known as Beth Cavener Stichter, is an American artist based out of Montana. A classically trained sculptor, her process involves building complex metal armatures to support massive amounts of clay. Cavener is best known for her fantastical animal figures, which embody the complexity of human emotion and behavior.
  Cavener addresses controversial subject matter head on and in direct opposition to the reputation of her chosen medium, clay. The artist focuses her sculpture on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal forms. As she states, "on the surface, these figures are simply feral animals suspended in a moment of tension. Beneath the surface, they embody the consequences of human fear, apathy, aggression, and misunderstanding". Her process is very physical, involving thousands of pounds clay sculpted using her whole body. Her work has earned many awards, and is exhibited in private galleries and public museums throughout the United States.
context_section_description: Cavener was born in 1972 in Pasadena, California. Her father is a molecular biologist, and inspired Cavener to study science up until college. She would work in his lab in the summers, and says that she aspired to a career as an academic scientist. Her mother, Nancy Jacobsohn, a sculptor and an art teacher, taught Cavener how to work with clay starting at an early age.
  Cavener went on to pursue her studies in physics and astronomy at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. In her 3rd year, she traveled to Florence, Italy, where she attended the Cecil Academy of Art. Upon returning, Cavener suspended her studies in astrophysics in order to focus on incorporating her diverse interests with a major Fine Art. She received her BA in Sculpture in 1995.
  Cavener would spend the next few years honing her artistic style and research through a series of apprenticeships and fellowships in Nashville, Tennessee and at the Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy. Trained in the classical atelier style throughout her studies, Cavener became restless with the more traditional methods of sculpting and casting, focused exclusively on the human form. Returning to the raw material of clay, Cavener began developing a method of working solid on increasingly complex armatures that allowed her to explore more complex gestures. Cavener spent four years in Columbus, Ohio, independently developing her work and searching for a conceptual link to her interest human psychology and social structures.  Cavener enrolled in graduate school at The Ohio State University, where she received her Master's in Fine Arts degree in ceramics between 2000 and 2002. Her thesis exhibition, "tremble shiver," made the transition from working with the human figure to using human-scaled portrayals of the animal body to express human emotion and psychological portraits.
  After receiving her MFA, Cavener spent two years as a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts from 2000-2002, and then completed a brief Guest Artist residency at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2004. She then traveled for residencies in Jingdezhen, China (2008), La Meridiana, Certaldo, Italy (2012), and at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Shigaraki, Japan (2013). She has been represented by the Garth Clark Gallery and Claire Oliver Gallery in New York, NY. Cavener is currently represented by the Jason Jacques Gallery in Manhattan, and opened the exhibition, "The Other", in November 2017, with 5 new major pieces.
  In addition to her full-time studio practice, Cavener opened a group professional studio space in 2014 under the name Studio 740 in Helena, MT. in order to mentor and support young emerging artists. She is vocal about the lack of funding for young artists, and has completed two successful crowd-funding initiatives, one in partnership with United States Artists (USA) in 2011 and another self-directed initiative using Patreon, to support the artists in residence of Studio 740.
caption: Title: "The Question That Devours" Year: 2012  Dimensions: H 64 x W 35 x D 25 in.  Materials: Stoneware, paint  Installation: Wall Piece
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