Alisha Porter is the 24-25 Whitaker Artist-in-Residence. Alisha is an artist and educator drawn to the transformative power of clay and the endless possibilities of mixed media and craft processes. Inspired by personal experiences of joy and trauma, she hopefully constructs surrealist worlds where the boundaries between the human and the abstract blur. Through these hybrid forms, Alisha aims to provoke thought and inspire dialogue about the complexities of queer identity.
Porter is a gay daughter of Catholic Spanish heritage born in the American Southwest. She happily wears her imposed societal role of an elder millennial and hopeful queer activist.
Porter has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville and is a 2023 NCECA Multicultural Fellow. Porter has exhibited in the National NCECA Student Juried Show and was awarded graduate sculpture and ceramics prizes for three consecutive years at SIUE’s Student Juried Exhibition. She is proud of her time spent as an Artist-in-Residence at the New Harmony Clay Project of Indiana in the fall of 2020 and has since been studying to develop and create “The Portery”, a craft education and residency program in New Mexico on heritage land.
Porter’s artistic practice is rooted in a queer sensibility that infuses their sculptures with flamboyant energy and camp aesthetics. Inspired by biomorphic forms of organic life and architecture, the artist constructs hybrid forms that challenge traditional notions of space and identity. Through vibrant colors and tactile textures, Porter invites viewers into a world of queer possibility, informed by Sara Ahmed’s theory on hope and feminist action.
Explore our Ceramics Studio classes to take classes with Alisha and our other amazing teaching artists!
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