Throughout my career, I’ve explored a range of artistic mediums, but a consistent thread runs through everything I make: a deep interest in the human experience of place. I’m drawn to the quiet relationship between place and landscape, not just as a physical location, but as something remembered, felt, and carried.

Most of my pieces begin with a specific place tied to lived experience. I build from that memory through layers of research, observation, and intuition. My goal is not to replicate a landscape exactly, but to capture the energy it holds, the texture of a moment and the emotional imprint it leaves behind.

My process is experimental and responsive. I work from photographs as reference points, but draw and erase freely, allowing each mark to shift the direction of the piece. I’m drawn to organic forms, abstraction, and the visible evidence of the hand. Each work becomes a record of its own making.

Over the past decade, my focus has settled in ceramics. I’m interested in the way clay holds memory. Each gesture, pause, and decision remains present in the surface. The material carries both process and time.

I’m particularly drawn to bonsai pots and planters, where the work extends beyond the studio. These pieces are completed through use, with ceramic form, plant, and caretaker coming together to shape something that continues to evolve.

Tempest NeuCollins holds a BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art (Portland, OR) and an MFA in Studio Art from the School of Visual Arts (New York City), where her focus shifted toward abstraction and mark-making across media. Now based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she works out of the Yourist Studio ceramic community.

Select Exhibitions

• We are the Guild, Gutman Gallery (2026)

• Varied Vessels, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI (2025)

• Collaborative bonsai piece with Michael Abbot, Ann Arbor Bonsai Society Show, Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor, MI (2024)

• PowerArt! Public Art Program, vinyl wrap installation, Hands-On Museum, Ann Arbor, MI (2018–present)

• Michigan 'Scapes, Second Museum, Brighton, MI (2018)

• Works on Paper III, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Long Island City, NY (2014)

• Of Place and Landscape, Space Object (2014)

• Into the Vortex, NARS Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2014)

• Grey Matter, The Painting Center, New York, NY (2011)

• Exit, SVA Gallery, New York, NY (2011)

• The Great Disruption, Rayko Photo Center, San Francisco, CA (2009)

Awards & Residencies

• 1st Place, Ann Arbor Woman Artists (2018)

• SVA Alumni Grant Recipient (2011)

• Artist Residency, Rancho Linda Vista, Oracle, AZ (2014)