Palace of Leaves

Continuing the Bay Area Figurative tradition of Manuel Neri and Stephen DeStaebler, Michelle Gregor’s work addresses humanity, timelessness and balance. Gregor is known for her complex multi-fired surfaces, using stains and washes which achieve a painterly quality rarely achieved in ceramics.



A new body of work premiering at the Triton Museum, Palace of Leaves, explores our connection with the natural world. Gregor’s abstracted human figures have taken on evolving shapes referencing arboreal forms. Before the silicon age, the Santa Clara Valley was blanketed with some of the most fertile orchards in the world and dubbed “the Valley of Heart’s Delight.” Before that, it was home to ancient native oaks and redwoods. Trees have been witness to human achievement and folly, here Gregor studies our bonds to them.