My long-running series of sculptures entitled Open Forms are depictions of provocative architectural abstractions that play with tension between solid and negative spaces while simultaneously creating an illusion of defying gravity; the pieces appear to displace weight and push volume.
The interior of these forms vacillate between full and empty while a fluid, hand-carved grid of lines wrap their way around the exterior of the object. Paradoxical components create a delicate balance of opposing forces that squeeze and push their way in a symbolic explosion of elements forced to harmonize and coexist in synergy. The final sculpture is calm and content, giving the viewer a breath of ethereality embodied within each piece.
Built up and cut away, a solid slab of clay becomes an arrangement of repetitive spaces that resemble lace, a complex exoskeleton, or scaffolding of the original form. The act of removing clay in my hand building is just as integral to the building up of the complex constructions to achieve their final composition. Light filters onto carved edges and defines shadows and lines.
Engobes and under glazes are applied to the clay’s surface at a variety of stages-- before or after the bisque firing. Surface color enhances the mood and compliments the curves and folds, treating the eye to a painterly palette of soft and weathered hues layered over one another.
My passion for creating runs directly and intuitively through my hands. The meditative labor-intensive time spent on the work is how I connect with myself in wordless communion.
My work is a constant exploration of imaginative, organic forms extracted from the architectural structures in nature and translated into the clay forms you see here. Emergent design pushes these contemporary clay forms to Art. In both my Open Form and Dotted Vessel series, I choose either a patina or deliberate pattern, which serve as a contemplative connection between the piece and its audience. Creating objects of reverence and rich visual tactile complexity continually inspires me and provides a powerful sense of purpose to my work.
My work is a continual exploration of biomorphic abstractions derived from nature that play with the tensions between solid and negative spaces. The work invites the negative space to stand up and be noticed.
I’m fascinated with creating an illusion of air inflating and pushing outward from within the sculpture. These sculptures vacillate between being ‘puffed up with air’, or conversely surrendering their outer shape, so the form appears to deflate or even bend under its own weight.
The sense of air pressure building inside and stretching against the walls creates a perception that the piece is a living breathing entity.
“As a ceramicist, it gives me great pleasure to transform this elastic, malleable material, that is so extremely heavy and dense, into imaginative objects of weightless beauty.”
Built up and cut away, a solid slab of clay becomes an arrangement of repetitive carved spaces that resemble lace, a complex exoskeleton, or scaffolding of the original form. The act of removing clay in my hand building is just as integral to the building up of the complex constructions to achieve their final composition. Light filters onto carved edges and defines shadows and lines. Subtle shifts and changes in appearance occur naturally on the sculpture, depending on how light infuses itself within the piece.
Stains, slips and glazes are applied to the surfaces at a variety of different stages. Surface textures and color enhance the curves and folds, treating the eye to a painterly palette of soft and weathered hues layered over one another.
Staging Objects
Recently I have begun bringing forms together onto a shared platform or stage. Assemblages of random objects working alongside one another creating amalgams of poetic lyricism. Abstract in nature, Dadaist in concept. Pulling from the subconscious and not questioning the reason.
In this curious series, I love exploring subtle juxtapositions of unrelated objects as they come together and deliberately set a peculiar tone or mood to the final piece. I give these objects a voice which is sometimes whimsical or sometimes serious in the narrative.
From my series, one might notice an object resting its head on another for comfort. In another work, a carved open form is stilted with what looks like drinking straws propping up the top portion of the sculpture.
These collections of forms, with their imaginary figurative gestures and highly textured skins, rely on each other to equalize their balance.
