Statement of Functional Work

The metaphoric malleability of clay has occupied me as a maker. Through an examination of the inherent physical properties of clay, whether mutable, transient or permanent, these often contradictory elements present a symbolic opportunity to explore the inherent dichotomies of life. The process of making is a means of creating spaces of reconciliation driven by an inner dialogue for the need to both make and unmake, to create objects of inward reflection as well as those that move outwards into a shared experience of the world.

As a way to balance the inward with the outward experience, to shift from the insular and hermetic to the inclusive my current body of work focuses on objects of use. The act of making pots is tied to a lineage of makers and stories of the present and past as the objects created today will act as artifact’s, remnants of the past providing an opportunity of reflection and connection. Objects we connect with have the ability for the physical and tangible world to affect and expand our inner world. The evidence of the pots exists in the life and stories of their shared experience, activity and use. Working in a space of conscious inclusion is a means of connection and association, where the uncertainty and doubt that can manifest in our interior world is replaced by a broader sense of humanity and connection.

I am drawn to the visceral quality of clay and the intimacy of the evidence left by a touched form. I often choose the slow process of pinching and coil building for it allows for a contemplative and intimate process of making where every decision is recorded. Terra sigillata’s soft, non-reflective surface maintains the rawness of the material. The simple abstract line drawings are narrative reflections and meditations on the precariousness and complexities of interactions and exchanges.

The need to connect is part of the human condition either through the physicality of touch or shared experience and understanding. Through an exploration of the corporeity of materials, its metaphoric meaning, symbolic imagery or through its intended use my work is at its core a means of discovering connections through our collective experience.