I want my pots to speak to their purpose. The grounding for my work comes from the use of the familiar vernacular of ceramic vessels. I use the natural facade of stoneware to reveal a bareness and treat the pots with soda ash to give a bronze sheen to stretched textures. I interact with the clay as a partner to embrace a vessel’s natural liveliness: I make pots with bellies that bulge and shoulders that stand tall. Within a series of silhouettes, I seek to stretch the expression of the vessel. The potential and purpose of a vessel allow for the ego and persona of the piece to emerge.
The practice of conversing with natural materials is deeply rooted in human understanding. Within the surface of my pieces, the representation of slow-running water, falling leaves, and lapping flames expresses the beauty developed by the making process. Telling the story of the vessel’s journey. Wielding and weaving elements of the natural world, I create pieces of otherworldly reliquary, engaging in the ceremony of clay to find deeper understanding. A vessel’s journey goes beyond good and evil, expanding the constructs of beauty, blunder, and balance, to reach its ephemeral state.