Gardner's studio work explores how form comes together, its reconstruction around recognizable systems, and the parts that through proximity build a whole. Her use of tiles and multiples suggest a puzzle or riddle, pages to be read or translated. But the whole is more than simply the sum of its parts. Gardner's practice welcomes the gesture of the hand, which is not driven toward perfection of craft, but instead reveal the results of her intuition. Her sculptural objects and installations reach the audience at a visceral level. The fluidity of gravity is held static. The weight of clay is felt with one's body and cut-out reliefs push openings through fleshy layers.
In Los Angeles, where she was based for 10 years, Gardner's work has been shown at venues including the Torrance Art Museum, Chime and Co. Gallery, Rio Hondo College and the Scripps College 72nd Ceramic Annual. Gardner has been awarded residencies at the EKWC (European Ceramic Work Centre), in the Netherlands, NES Artist in Iceland, and Vermont Studio Center in Johnson VT. She has been active in curation and production with the feminist collective Mañana por la mañana and curated projects including F•Utility: Absurd Acts of Radical Intelligence and On Edge, both at Arena One Gallery in Santa Monica.