The Collection

Kristen Morgin is an American sculptor whose work transforms clay into uncanny relics of contemporary culture. Best known for her trompe l’œil objects made of unfired clay mixed with glue, cement, and other materials, Morgin creates works that appear as aged wood, rusted metal, or decayed paper. Her sculptures evoke the fragility of memory and the passage of time, capturing everyday objects—comic books, toys, musical instruments, cars, tableware—with a haunting realism that makes them feel both unearthed and newly imagined.

Rooted in a ceramic background but pushing beyond traditional uses of the medium, Morgin’s practice is often linked to the assemblage and constructions of artists like George Herms, Edward Kienholz, and Michael McMillen. Her objects carry eccentric narratives and playful juxtapositions, suggesting both nostalgia and impermanence, personal history and cultural critique.

Morgin received her BA from California State University, Hayward (1993), and her MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University (1997). Her work has been presented in major exhibitions including The Thing (Hammer Museum, Los Angeles), Monumental (New Museum, New York), the Istanbul Biennial, the 3rd World Ceramic Biennale (Icheon, South Korea), and the 2016 Renwick Invitational (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.).

Her sculptures are held in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Hammer Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art (Miami), and the Rubell Family Collection, among others.