ARtist Statement
Discovery is what ultimately keeps me engaged in creating work. What my art ultimately communicates is always an interaction of the process of creating and the intentions of my original idea. I never seek to bend my work to the will laid out in my original plan, but instead learn about the idea I’m exploring and allow myself to be guided by the discoveries made while creating. By allowing myself the freedom to explore I gain a deeper understanding of myself and ultimately end up with better work than what I had originally imagined within my minds eye.
I am not as concerned with portraying an exact visual reality as I am in evoking an emotion or impressing my experience upon the viewer. I enjoy surfaces rich with texture impressing upon the viewer the need to really stop and explore and promising the observer a new discover with every examination of my work.
I’ve found that ceramics has allowed me to really explore how pattern and texture interact with form. I am constantly challenged to create surfaces that enhance and seem to belong to the form I’ve created. My desire is to create rich surfaces that change how the spectator interacts with the form.
Originally my ceramics were functional but as I’ve grown as an artist I’ve begun moving away from functional ceramics into more sculptural forms. By creating sculptural ceramics I am able to ask the viewer to really examine the form separate from the associations of traditional ceramics. I want the observer to consider the emotional and psychological implications of the forms I create without imposing a purpose and traditional sentiments often given to ceramic pieces.
My most recent work is an exploration of the seductive form. I’m looking to explore the means by which the human eye interacts with our emotions and pulls us towards danger. How we are enticed by something that looks good but may consume us physically or emotionally.
` I choose to throw my ceramic forms as opposed to hand building them to preserve the subtle gestural quality of thrown ceramics. There may not be obvious throwing marks within my work but to the trained eye it is still apparent that these forms began on the wheel and within each form is a record of every movement made during that process. Throwing the clay as opposed to hand building also allows me to create textures that expand and shrink with the surface of the form. I am able to begin a shaping my work and then stop before the form is completed to add marks to the surface of the clay and then continue to shape the form on the wheel. This process imparts softness to the markers as well as binds the marks to the surface of the clay. My desire is that by devoting attention to mark making and the emotional impacts of my works the viewer will embrace a personal and psychological meaning as opposed to a more literal or narrative interpretation.
I am not as concerned with portraying an exact visual reality as I am in evoking an emotion or impressing my experience upon the viewer. I enjoy surfaces rich with texture impressing upon the viewer the need to really stop and explore and promising the observer a new discover with every examination of my work.
I’ve found that ceramics has allowed me to really explore how pattern and texture interact with form. I am constantly challenged to create surfaces that enhance and seem to belong to the form I’ve created. My desire is to create rich surfaces that change how the spectator interacts with the form.
Originally my ceramics were functional but as I’ve grown as an artist I’ve begun moving away from functional ceramics into more sculptural forms. By creating sculptural ceramics I am able to ask the viewer to really examine the form separate from the associations of traditional ceramics. I want the observer to consider the emotional and psychological implications of the forms I create without imposing a purpose and traditional sentiments often given to ceramic pieces.
My most recent work is an exploration of the seductive form. I’m looking to explore the means by which the human eye interacts with our emotions and pulls us towards danger. How we are enticed by something that looks good but may consume us physically or emotionally.
` I choose to throw my ceramic forms as opposed to hand building them to preserve the subtle gestural quality of thrown ceramics. There may not be obvious throwing marks within my work but to the trained eye it is still apparent that these forms began on the wheel and within each form is a record of every movement made during that process. Throwing the clay as opposed to hand building also allows me to create textures that expand and shrink with the surface of the form. I am able to begin a shaping my work and then stop before the form is completed to add marks to the surface of the clay and then continue to shape the form on the wheel. This process imparts softness to the markers as well as binds the marks to the surface of the clay. My desire is that by devoting attention to mark making and the emotional impacts of my works the viewer will embrace a personal and psychological meaning as opposed to a more literal or narrative interpretation.
