Reese Girdner

Artist & Educator

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Sculptural

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Reese Girdner is a ceramic artist who uses the balance between functional wheel-thrown forms and ornate decoration to symbolize the desire to be understood and connect with others. He is a PK-12 Art Education major with a minor in 3D Studio Art and his expected graduation is in December of 2026.He spent the summer of 2026 at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN as part of their work-study program, where he participated in intensive workshops with nationally recognized artists. He has had artwork displayed at Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney, NE, the LUX Center for the Arts in Lincoln, NE, the Radial Arts Center in Omaha, NE, the Artists' Cooperative Gallery in Omaha, NE, and in the Brickwalk Gallery in Kearney, NE where he is also a member of their Collective Program. He has also had multiple artworks featured in The Carillon, UNK's Literary and Art Journal.

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My work reflects how varied human experiences shape the ways we carry loss, purpose, memory, and change. It asks what it means to endure, to remember, and to become. My identity informs the work as an underlying presence, guiding my exploration of protection and vulnerability, mourning and perseverance, and stillness and transformation.Working in stoneware and earthenware, I combine wheel throwing with hand sculpting to create forms that balance structure and fragility. I incorporate symbolic botanical, insect, and skeletal motifs to suggest cycles of growth, decay, and persistence. My pieces embody a quiet, earned resilience and transformation that occurs slowly and often unseen. These elements function as quiet metaphors, where protection and vulnerability exist simultaneously.