“This small figure is rather shy and vulnerable in its gesture and pose. The honeycomb texture refers to the decline in honeybee populations and how we are all connected in nature and the world. It suggests that without bees the world and mankind are quite vulnerable as well.”
Writer Charles Finn says of Arleo’s work, “This element of knowing and unknowing, is part of the appeal . . . . Mystery and the potential for discovery is in every one of her pieces.
Adrian Arleo has been making things since childhood. Encouraged by her mother and informed by several generations of creative women, she found clay at age thirteen.
Majoring in art, ceramics and anthropology, her study of art through various cultures gave her insights into human and universal themes. She began focusing on the human form in graduate school.
Arleo creates a fusion of the human figure, combining texture and imagery from the natural world. The remote spaces, animals and flora of Montana, along with other cultural and universal themes, inform her work. Her work has been widely published, is represented by numerous galleries, and is in many public and private collections.