by Lauren Kearns | Published in Ceramics Review
A background in environmental causes and their impact on the earth has influenced Liza Riddle’s work. Lauren Kearns tells us more
The first time I saw one of Liza Riddle’s sculptures, I was struck by the enormity of the piece and how it spoke the word ‘earth’. She is an artist at heart and in life, having worked in environmental sciences as a profession.
Riddle started ceramics in high school, winning a gold medal for an anti-war piece she created for a national contest. She went on to study art at Humboldt State in Northern California, a hotbed of contemporary sculptural ceramics during the anti-war era in California. At the same time, she had an equal driving passion for science and graduated with degrees in zoology and art and later, a Master’s degree in Environmental Planning from UC Berkeley. Throughout her studies, she gained skills to have positions of influence for conserving the environment.
She went on to work in environmental planning, as a ranger with the National Park Service, spending a year at a lighthouse on the remote Point Reyes Peninsula in California – a wild and inspiring place. This position led Riddle to research and visit numerous natural sites. The images of the earth that she saw were stored in her memory to come forth in her work at a later date. She met her husband Mark Goudy early in her professional life. Mark’s mother was a potter and she renewed Riddle’s passion for creating in clay.
ENVIRONMENTAL FOCUS
Riddle has held interesting positions of influence. She was a director of projects for the Trust of Public Land, covering a five Western State area, retiring in 2006 in order to travel the world. She managed a team of people and was responsible for purchasing land so that it will be protected in perpetuity. Prior to that position, she worked for the University of California, to create a system of reserved lands that represent the ecosystems of California, which are now used for research. She also worked for the State Coastal Conservancy – restoring natural lands along California’s 5,515km (3,427 miles) coastline. These are big jobs, with enormous responsibilities to the organisations and the environment.
The change of focus back to art came when Mark’s mother died in 2004 and they decided to take a raku class at a local art centre. Riddle wanted to make an homage to Mark’s mother. This class led them both to immerse themselves in the art of ceramics and she was able to take images from her memory to create works that are an ongoing acknowledgement to the earth.
Riddle says in her artist’s statement: ‘Cracked lake beds in arid desert landscapes. The clean geometry of crystals. Waves crashing on the shore, planets dancing across the night sky – these images from nature linger in my mind. They shape how I see the world and guide how I work with clay. My practice is rooted in the desire to preserve the raw beauty and quiet power of nature and translate it into tangible form.’
EXPLORING PROCESS
Riddle’s work has been awarded much recognition around the world. A few notable exhibitions are: 11th International Ceramics Competition in Mino, Japan, 2017, and the 62nd Faenza Prize, International Competition of Ceramic Art (Faenza, Italy), in 2023. In the USA, she took part in the NCECA Biennial in 2015 and the 80th Scripps College Ceramic Annual in 2025.
Her first works were burnished vessels, using metal salts and no glaze, wanting the effects to look like the earth as much as possible. That led her to begin to explore and play with clays that would assume the form of the process of cracked earth. Liza sketches an image before she gets to work, building a framework from the image. She works on five to six pieces at a time, in order to have enough for a kiln load.
Each piece has an internal frame, which takes about two days to build. She then fires the frame. The labour intensity increases as she adds layers of clay over the frame using a dental gum-measuring tool to achieve different depths of the cracks. This layering process usually takes several days, as she watches the cracks and encourages their growth. Her works are made of porcelain and other various earthenware clays, fired to various degrees. The colours (metal salts applied with a sponge) are applied for the subsequent firings to get the variety of colour and effect she desires. Each piece has approximately four firings.
CREATING AWARENESS
Riddle shares a passion for photography with her husband. On their travels they post many images of the places they are visiting, each one having a different ‘eye’. She tends to capture details of the movement of the earth, focusing on the colour and an unfolding process. Her ceramic work is, at times, monumental in scale and always breathtaking in the beauty and elegance of her forms.
Riddle is what I term a ‘quiet’ artist. One who does not demand attention but requires the viewer to engage and reflect on the earth, the fragility of beauty that surrounds us all, asking us to pay attention.
‘Through my work, I hope to spark reflection and curiosity,’ she explains. ‘I invite people to develop a deeper awareness of the natural world – its rhythms, forces and fleeting beauty – and to consider our place within it.’
For more details visit lizariddle.com; @lizariddle