Sands of Seven Hills

About the Artist

Isys Hennigar is a North Carolina based artist working primarily in ceramics, as well as metal and wood. Her work invokes real and reimagined ecological encounters, exploring the ways in which the natural world is constructed, interpreted, and mythologized.

Through ceramics, metal, and carved wooden sculpture, Sands of Seven Hills explores the resonant histories, myths, and landscapes of two coastal mining towns. Spanning sculptural renditions of archival map illustrations, reconstructed pottery shards, ceramic vessels, bronze-cast plants, and porcelain relief carvings, the show considers placemaking and the ways in which history is articulated through landscape. Through reimagined encounters between creatures, culture, and geography, the show envisions forms of transformation and resilience against the backdrop of extractive industry.

Hennigar received her MFA from the University of Georgia and BFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the 2024 recipient of the South Arts North Carolina State Fellowship, and her work has been shown nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at the American Museum of Ceramic Art and the North Carolina Museum of Art.