Lisa Humke
I was lucky enough to have 29 years of teaching and learning from high school students. I earned my undergraduate at UW-Madison, 1990 and my Masters from Fielding Graduate University, 2009. I am currently an instructor at Adamah Arts Studio in Dodgeville. I enjoy creating clay sculptures that incorporate a variety of mixed media such as found objects, collage, and glass. I like to experiment with a variety of firing techniques from Raku to wood fire.
My work is rooted in the exploration of the human condition—those shared threads of love, politics, family, and emotion that bind us all, regardless of place or time. I seek to create pieces that speak to both the deeply personal and the universally understood. Each work is an inquiry into how our collective experiences shape who we are and how we see the world.
I am drawn to materials that carry their own history. By upcycling found objects, I incorporate texture, color, and embedded meaning into my work. These elements—often worn, weathered, or cast aside—are reimagined and given new purpose. In my process, this is much like assembling a puzzle: individual fragments may seem insignificant alone, but when arranged with intention, they create a new narrative and a new way of understanding.
While I continue to work across media, my current practice is moving toward a stronger emphasis on ceramics. Clay offers both permanence and fragility, echoing the complexities of the human experience. It allows me to merge hand-built and found components into cohesive forms that carry the weight of history while pointing toward transformation.
Ultimately, my work is an act of connection—between materials, between ideas, and between people. By weaving together disparate parts into a unified whole, I aim to invite viewers into a space of reflection, empathy, and shared humanity.
My work is rooted in the exploration of the human condition—those shared threads of love, politics, family, and emotion that bind us all, regardless of place or time. I seek to create pieces that speak to both the deeply personal and the universally understood. Each work is an inquiry into how our collective experiences shape who we are and how we see the world.
I am drawn to materials that carry their own history. By upcycling found objects, I incorporate texture, color, and embedded meaning into my work. These elements—often worn, weathered, or cast aside—are reimagined and given new purpose. In my process, this is much like assembling a puzzle: individual fragments may seem insignificant alone, but when arranged with intention, they create a new narrative and a new way of understanding.
While I continue to work across media, my current practice is moving toward a stronger emphasis on ceramics. Clay offers both permanence and fragility, echoing the complexities of the human experience. It allows me to merge hand-built and found components into cohesive forms that carry the weight of history while pointing toward transformation.
Ultimately, my work is an act of connection—between materials, between ideas, and between people. By weaving together disparate parts into a unified whole, I aim to invite viewers into a space of reflection, empathy, and shared humanity.
