Leza Marie McVey (1907 – 1984) was an American studio potter. Sometimes known as Sullivan.
In 1932 she married the sculptor William Mozart McVey, also an artist himself. The couple lived and worked many locations throughout Texas form 1935 to 1947.
Study[]
She studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1927 to 1932. Later at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center from 1943 to 1944. In 1947, William accepted a teaching position at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, and there Leza McVey met Finnish artist Maija Grotell and eventually they became friends with Japanese American artist Toshiko Takaezu who studdied there between 1951 and 1954. In 1953 Leza McVey moved to Cleveland with her husband, where she set up a studio.
Body of Work[]
Leza Mc Vey's work lead the way for modern ceramic art in the US. One can both find surrealist and an inspiration in natural and organic shapes in her sculpture-like porcelain or stoneware sculptures. A few of her pieces were included in a surrealist exhibition in the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. This was in stark contrast with the current Futurism movement which had a much more machine-like aesthetic. Said to be ahead of her time, Leza McVey built large biomorphic forms with her hands. Many typically bottle shaped even including a stopper at the end.
Finally in the 60s Leza McVey produced vastly less because of reduced eyesight.
For further consultation[]
The Ceramic Forms of Leza McVey written by Martin Eidelberg in mid 2003, is a study of Leza McVey’s work.