Artist Demonstration: Katayoun Amjadi & Claudia Poser

, Claudia Poser, Life Boats Katayoun Amjadi, This is Not an Eggplant Join A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats guest artists, Katayoun Amjadi and Claudia Poser, as they demonstrate their techniques used to create work featured in the exhibition. April 11, 2 pm CT, FREE Teaching Studio C Katayoun Amjadi is an Iranian-born, Minneapolis-based artist, educator, and independent curator whose work delves into the complex social systems that shape our perceptions. Her practice often considers the binaries of Self and Other, navigating themes of religion, gender, politics, and nationalist ideologies. Amjadi is deeply interested in blurring these boundaries to create a balanced, hybrid style that reflects both her life and her art. Her work serves as an inquiry into the relationship between past and present, tradition and modernity, and the tension between individual and collective identity. By exploring these “tangled roots,” she seeks to spur broader discussions about our understanding of time and history. She holds an MFA in Ceramics and Sculpture from the University of Minnesota and currently teaches at Normandale Community College. A recipient of the 2015 and 2019 Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, her work has been exhibited at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Weisman Art Museum, the Beijing Film Academy, Karlsruhe Art Academy and 7Samar Gallery in Tehran among others. She maintains a studio in the Q.arma building. Claudia Poser is a German-born, Minneapolis-based ceramic artist whose work is deeply informed by a unique synthesis of scientific rigor and European aesthetic traditions. Born to a mother passionate about art history, Claudia was immersed in the visual languages of Modernism, Scandinavian design, and Gothic architecture from an early age. This eclectic foundation eventually led her to transition from a ten-year career as a polymer scientist in 1989 to the world of fine art, a shift that allowed her to translate her understanding of material properties into a dedicated ceramic practice. Her work often explores the intersection of the natural world and structural form, a pursuit refined through decades of study at the Northern Clay Center under the guidance of luminaries such as Warren MacKenzie and Paul Soldner. Claudia’s practice is further shaped by her involvement in prestigious local cohorts, including the WARM Mentor Program (2006–2008) and the Women’s Art Institute (2017). Her transition from science to clay has resulted in a style that balances technical precision with organic fluidity, often seeking to capture the “transitory patterns” found in the environment. Claudia’s work has been commissioned for major public and corporate spaces, including the Mayo Clinic Hospital, United Healthcare Corporation, Great River Energy, and the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Her exhibition record is extensive and international in scope, with recent juried appearances at the White Bear Center for the A...