Artist statement
“Our senses can be trusted but they can be easily fooled.” — Aristotle
Ceramics have become my vehicle for subverting commonplace perceptions within contemporary society. My work becomes a form of expression that uses the symbolism of seemingly universal objects to question the fragility of our world.
I bring my work to life through clay. I begin with a plaster mold. This allows me to capture the initial shape of the object I aim to recreate or develop. With the clay, I am then able to dictate the size, shape, and flexibility of the object. The tactile experience of squeezing, manipulating, and distorting the form I create with the clay beneath my hands imbues my work with an effortless sense of movement. The basic geometric shapes I began with are abstracted and distorted, embodying the behavioral nuances of my creative process. An added dimension reveals itself as the airflow meets the clay creating a textured surface exuding tension and vitality. The transmutation of the subject becomes infused with weight, gravity, and a reconfiguration of spatial perception guided by my intention.
My practice is based on the deception of the senses. I toy with materiality and shape to challenge my audience to investigate their preconceived notions of distance, shape, size, and orientation in relation to the function of an object. For instance, I reimagined the bath towel, I transformed sight and touch by the hardening of the object’s material itself as well as the orientation of the object, in the vein of modern art disruptors like Marcel Duchamp. These disruptions I create activate conversations surrounding the delicacy of society especially with rising issues of class, cultural heritage, and a collective society loom over us. As I grow as an artist, I am eager to discover new techniques and approaches to rethink the possibilities of my materials to fool the human eye.