Artist Statement

I work with clay because clay is tactile, inviting and has the ability to take any form. Within the genre of the ceramic arts, I specialize in wood firing. This is a technique that utilizes flame and ash to paint across the surface of clay, which creates organic pattern and color. I am always trying to find the balance between material control and serendipitous effects across the surface of my forms. This way finishing the work always includes many unknown elements and I never know fully how they will look until they come out of the kiln. This mystery is an important element to my making and overall aesthetic.

 My work is inspired by the relationship between the natural world and the human psyche. My current research explores the relationship between handcrafted wood fired ceramic forms and digitally designed 3D printed plastic objects. Through this body of work, I am experimenting with shapes that I hope inspire a broad range of feelings difficult to define such as comfort, safety, stability, instability, evolution, violence and permanence. Splitting and dividing form has become increasingly important because it causes the interior space to be directly considered. This creates another visual layer and also presents more questions about the history of each piece and about its intended purpose or nature.

 I am heavily influenced by the natural world and some areas of my interests include geology, biology and psychology. The natural world is familiar and mysterious and it is my intention to make work that continues to revel itself to the viewer through layers of surface texture and color. The local environment and landscape not only inspire forms in my wood fired works, but are the very material that I use to create finished works. The final shapes of the 3D printed forms reflect small pieces of the natural world I translate digitally and then mechanically fabricate. Through material and process this work investigates the relationship between the hand of the maker and the capabilities of the machine.