Ceramic tableware and purses by Shayla Su

The Red Elephant Gallery is proud to add Ceramic artist Shayla Su to the Ceramic section of the Gallery. Shayla Su began her ceramics training at the University of California at Berkeley, where she also studied Art and Architecture. She graduated with a B.A. in Art History in 1991.

Through this training, she came to believe that all aspects of art should be equally valued: concept, quality, technique, medium, function and design. This sense of balance, combined with her personal experiences, is what characterizes her work and forms her ongoing inspiration.

The collections on this site represent a shift from a focus on wheel-thrown wares to an interest in slab work, and with new motifs. In them, her architectural background emerges. Simple, elegant and functional, Shayla's work strives to convey a modern experience, where form and function meet in sleek new designs where subtlety is the key ingredient.

Shayla’s handbags were inspired by a trip to Venice Italy in 2003. While exploring Venetian art and architecture, she became enthralled by the myriad of handbags displayed so opulently in the city’s many shops. In an effort to come to terms with the dichotomy of art and fashion, she began making handbags in clay. Each work is unique as a ceramic piece, and as ceramics works, they make original vases.

In her tableware collection, she found interesting, artful and functional ways to enhance the tactile and visual pleasure of a lovely meal. Thought modern in design with their folded edges, each bowl’s simplicity make it a great match for traditional tables as well.

Shayla has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout the 1990’s until the present. Recent exhibitions have include Vitrified Clay National: Form and Content, juried exhibition, Rockport Texas, Illuminations, a joint exhibition at Ruby’s Clay Studio and Gallery, San Francisco, Blues: Tonality II, juried exhibition, Tierra Solida Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, Recent Works joint exhibition with Phil Simon, Christensen-Heller Gallery, Oakland, CA the Silver Celebration Art Auction, benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association, San Francisco, CA, and Furniture as Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA (all in 2004). In 2005, Shayla set up her own “studio in the garage” and participated in the Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft Shawn and International Gift Show.

She is the winner of the 2006 NICHE Wards in the Home: Lamps Category and a finalist in the 2006 NICHE Awards in the Ceramic: Hand-built category.