Into the Wild

Photograph by Debra Fleury

Artist Debra Fleury spent her childhood summers searching Cape Cod’s tidal rivers for shells and sea creatures. These days the MassArt grad continues to be a keen observer of the natural world: “I’m the kind of person who will spend 30 minutes looking at a tree,” says Fleury, who translates her observations, sketches, and thoughts into elaborate sculptures in her Somerville studio. For this piece, titled Flow, Fleury worked with red stoneware, porcelain, and glaze to depict mushrooms draped over rocks (which she observed on a hike in Conway, New Hampshire), and threads of moss flowing through streams (spotted in the Hoh Rainforest in Washington State). “I make art because I have that sense of wonder and curiosity about nature,” Fleury says. “The pieces are alive while I’m making them.”

Flow, $950, Mudflat Studio, 81 Broadway, Somerville, 617-628-0589.