Artist Statement

I make functional pottery and clay sculptures that begin as familiar pottery forms such as a bowl, cylinder, or plate. Starting with these mundane forms, I find a familiar sense of control that allows me to explore the ways in which I manipulate my language of clay. My commitment to pottery and its characteristics guide visual and structural components in my work, leading them to become an intersection between pottery and sculpture. I balance this exercise of control by firing in an atmospheric setting, allowing the fluidity of the flame to correlate within each piece. 

My intention is to create a structure (or structures) that explores the surroundings of my personal interactions with nature, specifically landscapes and ecologies from my time spent in the southwest and gatherings of modern plant life material from the exchange and gatherings of floral motifs such as plant life arrangements from myself, people, weddings, funerals, etc to use as a layer of recent memory over the past. 

 I am fueled by my memories of these landscapes and the natural world I was brought into at a young age, the impact this had on me is represented through the lens of clay and curiosity. Using various mountain ranges, rock formations, flora, and fauna as a personal palette of my past, I am layering these memories over clay to achieve form, imagery, and textures. Wood and soda ash accumulate and alter glazes and the clay to not only visually resemble the circumstances of their atmospheric firing but also the elements of the natural world that inspired the form. The presentation of these pieces is used to capture the curiosity of their assemblage. This series is an act of archiving memory and introspection, such as understanding one’s relationship to their past and present.