Current Exhibition: Ren Von Hasseln / Oct. 1 - Dec. 20, 2025
Artist Bio:
Ren von Hasseln is a ceramic artist living and working in Ojai, CA. Her background is in architecture, and before that, biology. As a kid, the only thing Ren thought she wanted to be was a scientist. In college she majored in Biology and got partway through a PhD program in molecular genetics before realizing that, seeing them up close, she didn’t actually want any of the careers that degree would earn her. She took a leave of absence to figure out what was next, and eventually moved to LA for architecture school, which felt like a good blend of rigor and creativity.
In architecture school, Ren and her husband started a small business 3D printing architectural models for fellow students to help make ends meet. Because the proprietary powders that the printers use are so
expensive, they experimented with other materials, including sugar. Sugar worked so well that when they graduated they started a small business 3D printing entirely edible pieces; intricate sculptures for
the top of wedding cakes, branded sugar cubes for corporate events. A year after graduating, the business was acquired by a large 3D printing company and Ren ended up running the business with her partner, within the larger company, for the next 7 years.
Moving to Ojai and buying her house here was Ren’s escape strategy from the 3D printing business, which had become increasingly corporate and minimally creative. Ren acted as architect and PM for the tear down renovation, and, as construction tapered off, around 2021, she started to build the ceramics business that she had been dreaming of. In clay Ren had found something that felt - and still feels - like a
lifelong pursuit.
Artist Statement:
Ren’s work is hand built in stoneware and typically at a large scale. While these works for OMG represent a departure in stature, they share the focus on texture and surface that is characteristic of Ren’s work.
Ren’s practice is highly driven by process. The linear vertical texture of the vessel in this group of work, for example, is produced during the build itself, in the joining of coils. Instead of smoothing out these rough marks, Ren chooses to refine and highlight them as
surface ornament. But ornament that is rooted in the making. Likewise many of the embellishments of the brutalist tower and hanging sculpture originated as remnants of other processes that imprinted upon them the textures that they carry into their current configurations. This is a throughline for Ren in her work, that the marks and textures left behind by the process of working with clay are often the most compelling and beautiful parts.