Erin McGuiness’s sculptural work captivates with its quiet strength and lyrical beauty. Her creations are totemic yet sensual, meditative yet invigorating. Through her hands, McGuiness draws viewers out of passive observation into active participation, as her work becomes an invitation to heal – a journey into wholeness through our bodies and our relationship to the natural world.
Her archetypal ceramic forms and installations navigate the liminal space between light and shadow, masculinity and femininity, the raw and the refined, the individual and the collective. Each piece, carved or coiled with intuitive precision, embodies these dualities, evoking a dialogue that extends beyond aesthetics and into the realm of the deeply philosophical.
McGuiness’s work is inextricably tied to her personal exploration of identity and the earth. Yet, the questions she raises are universal: What is the role of the artist? Is the power to heal, to bridge the unseen with the tangible, reserved only for the shaman and the holy person? Or can the artist, too, serve as a conduit for wisdom, balancing and harmonizing what is fractured within and around us?
At the core of her practice is a contemplative process that allows her to reveal the life force inherent in matter. Clay, her primary medium, serves as both subject and metaphor – a material reminder of our deep connection to the earth. McGuiness’s sculptures exist in the space between knowing and not knowing, solitude and community, reminding us of the interconnectedness of all things.
Grounding her work in pre-colonial traditions and ancient ritual practices, McGuiness reclaims wisdom both lost and obscured by modernity. Her study of Old European Neolithic culture uncovers essential truths that she applies to her contemporary practice, offering a means of navigating today’s complex realities through the ancient.
In making the invisible visible, McGuiness sculpts more than just forms – she sculpts our attention, our presence, and our connection to space. Her objects hold and shape the spaces they inhabit, transforming amorphous emptiness into a vibrant, energetic field. Her work is a reminder that to create connection, we must honor the integrity of form – both in art and in ourselves.
With roots in Virginia and a practice now established in the San Francisco Bay Area, McGuiness’s work has been featured across the country in major collections and exhibitions. Recognized as an AD Discovery by Architectural Digest and a Style Maker by Luxe magazine, her work is celebrated for its timelessness and depth. From Spazju Kreattiv’s collection in Malta to high-profile design books like Nicole Hollis’s Artistry of Home, McGuiness’s vision continues to resonate, offering a quiet yet potent call to return to the essential.