ARTIST STATEMENT

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In my work I try to express the essential and precarious balance that exists in nature, and on Earth. Using clay, the most elemental of materials, I give form to this impulse toward equilibrium within ourselves and in our relationships. Much of my work is functional, as I believe that what has been created by one’s hands is transformed by passing it on to another’s; and that this unique quality of ceramics, to be used in a practical way, and also function as a work of art, allows connections to form between people, and between oneself and nature.

I’m interested in the surface, how the design meets itself on the other side of the pot and how the images I create rhyme with the outline of the form. In this way, I reference many ceramic works throughout history that tell a narrative around the surface of a pot. I sometimes make designs that are non-directional, so that if you eat from a plate or a bowl or sit at a table there’s no “right-side up” or “wrong-side down”. In this way, I express my view that perspective is personal.

While most of my pieces are functional and based on the vessel—the holding of content within a form -- I also create sculptural work, drawings in clay meant to be wall-mounted, and tile murals. For the three tile murals commissioned by Keycorp for their national headquarters building in Albany, NY, the theme I chose was the endangered species of New York state. Within each of three 36” x 52” murals, human beings are depicted alongside other mammals, insects, plants, birds, reptiles and amphibians, because we, too, are an endangered species.