vancouver, canada
MEET NATHALEE PAOLINELLI
ROOTED IN DUAL WORLDS
"I wasn’t trying to make perfect objects. I was trying to feel connected."
Born in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Nathalee Paolinelli grew up shaped by the meeting of two cultures—Italian and Indigenous. Her early experiences with nature, solitude, and storytelling continue to inform her work today. Though trained in painting and sculpture, it was clay that ultimately became her grounding force: a medium that allowed her to merge instinct with heritage, and process with presence. Her practice resists rules—embracing the unknown, the imperfect, and the deeply personal.
ART THAT LISTENS
"rolling, shaping, and painting slabs create a foundation for dialogue."
Nathalee’s work invites a slow conversation between artist and material. Guided by what she calls a “consciously naïve” approach, her forms are fragile, sculptural, and one-of-a-kind—paper-thin at times, but full of presence. Each vessel holds poetic tension between control and surrender, revealing textures and silhouettes that echo lichen, coral, and coastal terrain. In every ripple and ridge, there’s a story told softly.
A LIVING LANDSCAPE
"Bowls take the shape of sea anemones. Vases grow into barnacles."
Rather than design around perfection or permanence, Nathalee allows her work to evolve like the natural world that inspires it. Her ceramics echo sea life, rock formations, and brittle lichen—not by design, but by relationship. Each piece invites interaction, interpretation, and everyday use. These are not static sculptures—they are tactile reminders of play, impermanence, and the quiet beauty of objects that carry intention over time.
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