Dara Hartman, “Charm (Community Quilt),” 2025, mixed media, porcelain, metal hooks 48 x 72 in.

When we think of ceramics, we often picture a thrown vessel, a hand-built sculpture or maybe even our favorite artisan coffee mug—weighty, functional and tactile. But in Porcelain Threads, Dara Hartman turns that notion inside out. Her solo exhibition at Modern West strips away any expectation of heaviness or utility. Instead, her ceramic work floats—delicate, ethereal, and seemingly weightless.

On view both behind the welcome desk and throughout the upstairs gallery, Hartman’s work reimagines the vessel in wholly unexpected ways. Constructed from porcelain—a notoriously challenging material—her pieces resemble textile works more than traditional ceramics. She calls them “ceramic quilts,” and while that phrase may sound paradoxical at first, it begins to make perfect sense as you move through the exhibition.

Art takes time or, in some cases, it doesn’t, depending on the intention. In Hartman’s work, time is essential. Her ceramic quilts appear to be the result of intense experimentation, hand built casts, and a process of remarkable precision. Each tile, each petal-like component, is carefully formed and glazed. There’s not a blemish in sight, only the subtlest shifts in color, ivory to amber, cream to ochre, like light passing through paper thin fabric. These pieces demand close attention. Some are transparent enough to let light and shadow pass through. Others contain glazed negative spaces that invert our usual sense of inside and outside.

Dara Hartman, “Veil,” 2024, porcelain, paracord, metal hooks, nuts and bolts, magnets 49 x 120 x 1.5 in.

Behind the counter hangs “Veil,” a quiet showstopper. At first glance, it might seem minimal, but a closer look reveals layers of shifting yellow hues and repeating forms. There’s something slow and meditative in this piece as it invites, even requires, a pause. It doesn’t insist on itself. Instead, it waits to be discovered, much like the show as a whole.

Upstairs, a piece titled “Charm,” also known as “Community Quilt,” greets visitors with an expansive arrangement of 100 tiles, each one created in collaboration with a different Salt Lake City artist. This collective work spans ten tiles high by 19 across, measuring roughly four feet by six. The diversity of materials and voices speaks not only to Hartman’s generosity but also to the strength of Utah’s local arts community. Each tile bears the fingerprint of its contributor, forming a whole that is unified yet gloriously varied.

To the left of “Community Quilt,” looking out over the city through the gallery windows, a vertical piece titled “Heirloom” stands tall and composed. Suspended from a walnut dowel, it combines bone beads, porcelain forms and metal hooks in a scroll-like construction. The shape recalls a woven runner—the kind placed at the center of a family table—a quiet nod to domestic ritual and generational memory. Like much of Hartman’s work, “Heirloom” balances fragility with strength. It is pristine but not sterile; instead, it feels lived in, sacred and handled with care.

On pedestals, Hartman’s tableware mugs, jars, and other functional pieces offer a grounded counterpoint to the quilts. These forms are beautifully glazed and patterned, and they seem to echo and converse with the larger wall pieces around them. The finishes across the exhibition are exacting. Spacing between elements is measured with both a curator’s eye and an artist’s tenderness. Everything is hung with unobtrusive hardware, allowing the work to breathe.

Throughout Porcelain Threads, there’s an intimate, almost spiritual quality to Hartman’s practice. Her slip-cast pieces aren’t brazen or loud, they’re gentle, honest, and quietly astonishing. She challenges our assumptions about porcelain, pushing it from the utilitarian into the poetic. There’s a playful curiosity in her compositions, but also a deep sense of control. Each edge, seam, and transition between front, back and side is treated with care and intention.

Hartman’s work carries with it the nostalgia of handmade quilts and the elegance of modern sculpture. Her forms suggest stories passed down, moments of gathering, or time spent around a table with family. Yet they remain open-ended, inviting viewers to bring their own memories into the frame.

Dara Hartman: Porcelein Threads, Modern West Fine Art, Salt Lake City, through May 31.

Nolan Flynn

Raised in a creative Michigan household, Nolan Patrick Flynn developed an early passion for art. He moved to Utah to pursue an MFA at the University of Utah and continues to create art out of his Salt Lake City studio and teach high school art at Stansbury High School.