Artist Statement

Allowing plasticity and spontaneity in my practice is a conscious choice. Clay is pliable in three dimensions. When listening to how this material wants to act, my intention continuously rearranges to correspond with the clay’s desires. Further, this allows me to be a bit surprised by them. Ceramics can be subject to marks from tools such as brushes, wooden ribs, needles, carving tools, and the hands. Using these tools, I enjoy bold mark making such as is seen in some abstract expressionism. When this gets incorporated into pottery, or functional objects, the user becomes intimately involved with how the pot was crafted. 

As for the forms I create, I am inspired by wabi-sabi, a traditional Japanese aesthetic that revolves around appreciating beauty through the acceptance of imperfection. Surrealism is another movement that is influential for my work, as its emphasis on the subconscious interacts well with spontaneity. I find surrealist works to exist in an interesting realm somewhat between realism and pure abstraction.

The other main component of my work comes from doodling, which is a freestyle manner of drawing. For me this often develops into creatures, people, and/or abstract visual poems. Then this gets translated to the surfaces of ceramics forms that follow the same ideal of spontaneity. Having near constant flexibility in the process allows for each piece to be a continuous interaction between me and the art object.