Deb Stewart, “Propagation and Endurance”, June 26 – August 1, 2026

Survival Strategies

Curatorial Essay by Edward Y.J. Millar and Deborah Stewart

How do we survive? 

Plants have developed a great variety of solutions to that one essential question, a fact of nature that has long been a source of inspiration for ceramic artist Deborah Stewart. Her interest in them stems from how some of the most vulnerable organisms around us find ways to be durable and persist into the future. In Propagation and Endurance, Deborah Stewart uses clay and metal seed pod ceramic sculptures to highlight the strength, resiliency, and determination in fragile things. 

Seed pods are the protective casing on plants that enable natural propagation: the protecting, maturing, and dispersing of new seeds. This structure allows delicate flora to reproduce, endure, and continue into the future despite intense environments and external forces. 

For Propagation and Endurance, robust clay seed pods are complemented by minimal steel and wire structural forms, blurring the line between what appears fragile and what appears formidable. By pairing the vulnerability of clay with the rigid strength of metal, Stewart encourages respect and acknowledgement of the enduring power of fragility.

Whether a hard outer shell or delicate winged pods, the natural world is filled with different strategies for propagation. Stewart finds great beauty not only in the diverse forms of their protective casing, but in their embodiment of the dual nature of plants: simultaneously vulnerable and resilient. 

Beyond their biological purpose, Stewart sees in them a reminder for our daily lives. The sheer diversity of approaches to survival reminds us that there are always multiple solutions to every problem. While protecting and nurturing our offspring might vary from family to family, we are connected to one another through the shared hope our children will find a place to land and grow. 

This series first began ten to fifteen years ago with Stewart gathering seed pods for careful, close study while working on other projects. Stewart started exploring their structure, composition, and lifecycle to develop press mold forms inspired by specific seed pods like Sweetgum, Pinesap, and more. 

Nature, movement, and form have long inspired Stewart. Her lifelong engagement with hiking, camping, and gardening informs her deep physical and sensory relationship to the natural world, while her background as a modern dancer shapes her understanding of motion, energy, and breath. These influences converge in her ceramic practice, where she approaches clay as both a responsive partner and an expressive medium. 

Propagation and Endurance draws on this passion to carve out a pathway of suggested movement. Metal and ceramic structures act as a form of wayfinding, guiding visitors throughout the space, just as seeds wander out in the world in search for a place to land. 

Press Release available here.

Catalog available here.