August 4–8, 2026, from 10:00am – 5:00pm

Ceramic artist and instructor Shiva Nasiri leads this immersive five-day sculptural intensive. Across five days, students focus on building and refining the human hand through anatomical study and construction techniques.

About the Workshop

Hands are among the most communicative parts of the body. Before we speak, they already convey tension, softness, resistance, invitation, grief, and care. This workshop approaches the hand not as decoration, but as language.

Artist and instructor Shiva Nasiri guides students through a focused study of proportion, skeletal logic, volume distribution, and the structural relationships between palm, fingers, and wrist. Through close observation and demonstration, students translate anatomical understanding into accurate three-dimensional form while maintaining expressive intent.

Construction emphasizes disciplined slab and solid building methods. Students will learn how to segment complex forms for controlled assembly, manage thickness for structural stability, and refine transitions to prevent distortion or cracking. Alongside technical development, the workshop invites conceptual exploration—how subtle shifts in gesture can transform meaning, and how tension, openness, and form communicate.

Grounded in anatomy yet open to interpretation, this workshop supports both precision and expressive departure. Surface is considered in dialogue with structure, with glazing completed during a scheduled Glaze Day.

Students will leave with a completed sculpted hand and a deeper understanding of how structure, gesture, and surface work together to create meaning.

Learn more about Shiva Nasiri here.