I Cried While They Dried
The survivor of toxicity and abuse, Creston ceramics artist Andrea Revoy reminds us that beauty doesn’t just survive the fire — it’s shaped by it.
Survive, then thrive — “There’s a peculiar magic in realizing you are not the same person who started the journey,” artist Andrea Revoy says. “It’s not a loss, but an evolution.” — Andrea Revoy Photo
A quiet, powerful truth flows through the work of Creston-based ceramic artist Andrea Revoy — a truth both heavy with emotion and lifted by playfulness. Revoy’s sculptures are not simply pieces of art: they are chapters of a personal evolution, shaped in clay, pain, and light.
Originally from Vancouver Island, Revoy landed in Creston in 2009 — a move she describes as life-shifting. “When we moved here, I didn’t work outside the home, so I was able to be fully immersed in ceramics,” she says.
It was a natural fit: Creston’s stunning beauty and close connection to wilderness echoed back her inner need to heal, rebuild, and grow. “I’ve always been connected to trees, to mountains,” she adds. “Being here feels grounding. It shows up in my work.”
Revoy’s journey into art began through a side door. While working as a hairdresser in Red Deer, Alberta, she took an artistic welding course at Red Deer College. From there, she fell headlong into the college’s visual arts program, initially focusing on painting. But once she discovered the tactile power of clay and sculpture, something shifted.
“Three-dimensional work cracked open my imagination,” she says. “It became a way to physically work through what was inside me.”
Revoy’s interior world emerged into material form with her Trophy Wife series — a body of work initially created out of the emotional pain she suffered during an abusive relationship.
“I’d never made anything that raw before,” explains Revoy. “I didn’t know you could put your whole body and soul into a piece of art. But I cried making them, I cried while they dried. It all poured out.”
The sculptures, while striking in their craftsmanship, hold a haunting tension. One piece, titled And Then There Was None, captures her loss of self-worth in the toxic relationship dynamic. A delicate female figure sits inside a cage, her dazzling centre removed.
“It’s about how someone can love your sparkle, and then over time just take it all away,” Revoy shares.
A small accident in the gallery where that piece was displayed ended up being a sweet release for Revoy — when And Then There Was None was shattered by a falling clay mermaid, Revoy found herself relieved. “I didn’t want to keep it. It carried so much pain,” she says.
“When it broke, I didn’t have to decide what to do with it. It was like something let go.”
What followed was a slow emergence. Now separated from her spouse, Revoy is creating a new series that’s infused with a different kind of intensity — a “golden joy,” as she puts it. Currently taking shape in her Creston studio and deeply influenced by a yoga practice and healing journey, these new works draw from a powerful sense of rooted freedom.
“There’s gold light in the chest of some of these figures,” she explains. “I started to see this image of myself — light pouring from my chest — and I learned to see that as love. That’s what I wanted to sculpt.”
Revoy’s practice is intuitive but grounded. She begins with slabs of clay, and without a rigid plan. Journals, sketches, and scattered notes feed her early ideas, but the real storytelling happens in her hands. “Sometimes I think I know what I’m making — and then the clay tells me something else,” she says with a laugh.
Revoy is inspired by mixed media artists, and explains that she’s always considering how to incorporate other mediums into her work. In her cozy Creston studio, Revoy combines hand-built clay with bits of spun wool, felt, and sometimes found objects.
Workmanship, attention to detail, and a sense of humour — even when working through darker themes — are at the core of Revoy’s process.
“The pieces I make are inspired by events or everyday experiences that make me think, smile, and laugh,” she says. Some of her most popular functional-art pieces, like the whimsical Drinking Buddy cups, offer a tangible sense of connection and spark of joy, and have been shown in galleries from Victoria to Black Diamond, with plenty of showings in the Kootenays.
Lately, Revoy is exploring themes of womanhood, nature, and interconnectedness through her art practice. “I don’t want to call it goddess work, exactly, but it’s definitely feminist,” she says. Caged figures, radiant golden hearts, and layered textures tell stories of perseverance and power.
“It’s about strength and staying grounded,” Revoy says, “and about how nature and creating art can help us work through trauma.”
Revoy’s pieces are available at galleries across British Columbia and Alberta, by appointment in her Creston studio, or through her website: andrearevoy.com. She also shares her journey on Instagram at @andrearevoyceramics, inviting viewers into her process, which is a celebration of resilience, creativity, and the light that art can reveal.
~ Jacquie Moore
Find this full-length story and more in The Trench’s Summer/Fall 2025 edition: