THE BONES BENEATH | MYA CLUFF

July 10 – August 23, 2026 | Camas Gallery

Opening Reception and Artist Introduction: Friday, July 10 | 5:30–7:30 p.m.

“In other words, I love you,
I will come back. A child
is not a talisman. Neither am I,
I’m afraid. I am in the sky,
but do not pray to me.
I have no power here.”

Excerpt from “Rough Air” by Maggie Smith

In my time, nothing has put the thin line of life and death into higher magnification than
the experience of motherhood. In loving and caring for my three children, I grapple both
with living my best life for them, and understanding that all that we build together will
come to an end. I came to the title of this exhibition, The Bones Beneath, in the intimate
moments of holding my children, and feeling their delicate skeletons under the softness
of their skin. A gentle reminder of their strength and vitality paired with the desolation of
mortality.

The works in this show focus not on direct representation of my children and their
natural frailty, but on creating physical representations of my own anxieties and fears. I
lean on symbols such as the pelvis, or female figures abstracted by fur-like texture to
create a space to hold sensitivity to maternal anxiety, and make an effort of finding
beauty and strength within uncertainty. Bones, after all, are what hold us up.

About the Artist

Mya Cluff is a studio artist living and working in Belgrade, Montana. Born and raised in
Oregon, she moved to Montana in 2017 after graduating from the Oregon College of Art
and Craft where she received a BFA in Craft with an emphasis in Ceramics.
The birth of Cluff’s firstborn daughter in the middle of her BFA was the catalyst of her
investigation of the maternal through her art practice. Cluff is intrigued with the
psychological, political and interpersonal ramifications of motherhood. She uses her
own experience as inspiration, as well as the stories of her peers, written accounts of
motherhood, and maternal feminist theory to inform her work. Cluff strives to give visual
form to the intimacy and complexity of motherhood that is often lost through
essentializing archetypes.

Cluff has been a short term resident at the programs of Red Lodge Clay Center in 2019,
Pentaculum at Arrowmont in 2023, and Chehalem Cultural Center in 2024. She has
exhibited both nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions, and has work
in various private and public collections. Cluff is currently enrolled at Montana State
University as a candidate for a Masters in Fine Art, 2028.