“My work has always examined the human psyche and body. I’m interested in the moments where fragility intersects with perseverance and aggression meets tenderness. The same polarity interests me in the materials I choose to work with. Clay and plaster are transient and complex. They both have internal vulnerability, for when hardened, they can shatter into shards and disintegrate back into powder. I associate the original meaning of plaster with building and healing. The Greek origin of the word, emplastron, means to daub, or salve. I use clay non-traditionally. I draw with it on paper and once hardened, it longs to peel away.”

Dana Harel was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel and currently works in San Francisco. Harel has had solo exhibitions at the Laguna Art Museum, Palo Alto Art Center, Gallery Wendi Norris, and Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art in Herzliya, Israel. Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions locally including San Francisco Arts Commission, Headlands Center for the Arts, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, Napa Valley Museum and CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions. Her work has been reviewed in the New York Times, ArtNews, San Francisco Bay Guardian, CBS, and Art Practical. Harel received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the California College of the Arts.