INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ARTIST and ocean advocate Courtney Mattison handcrafts intricate, large-scale ceramic sculptural works that visualize climate change through the fragile beauty of marine life. Her background in ocean conservation science and policy informs her art practice. Mattison’s meticulously designed wall reliefs are often composed of hundreds or thousands of individually hand-crafted and glazed stoneware and porcelain pieces that celebrate the diversity of invertebrate animals inhabiting coral reefs. She sculpts hollow forms by pinching together coils of clay and uses simple tools to texture each piece, often poking thousands of holes to mimic the repetitive growth of coral colonies. Her color glazes reflect the vibrant tones of a healthy reef, often juxtaposed against white glazes to emphasize the stark contrast of coral bleaching on reefs stricken by warming seas.

Mattison’s work has been shown in exhibits and commissioned internationally for permanent installations across the world. In 2020, the United Nations Postal Administration published her art on a stamp to commemorate Earth Day. She lives and works in San Francisco.