For artist Katherine Hanks, creativity isn’t separate from life. It’s part of becoming more fully herself. “I practice self-love through working with clay.”
As she works, she reflects on motherhood, embodiment, courage, and the long process of unlearning who she thought she needed to be. Through clay, sculpture, and making with her hands, Katherine began reconnecting to her body, her intuition, and the parts of herself that had grown quiet over time.
Before sculpture had a name, Katherine was already following texture, landscape, and the pull of the earth.
“When I was a child, I liked to be muddy. I liked to explore. I liked to create things with my hands.”
What started as a weekly pottery class became something deeper: a return to an ancient, tactile practice that felt intuitive from the beginning.
“My whole body was like, yes, you love this.”
Pregnancy, birth, and motherhood reshaped Katherine’s relationship with her body—and her work followed.
“My sculptures began to almost mimic what I was experiencing in my body.”
Through curving forms, stretch marks, dimples, and softness, Katherine began seeing beauty in what culture so often calls flawed.
“I am practicing self-love through working with clay.”
