Artist Statement
I am interested in intersections between pottery and geology. Clay is taken directly from the earth, and thus it can mimic and reflect many dynamic earth processes. Like clay, rocks break, bend, stretch, crack apart, fold, and change composition when exposed to intense heat and pressure. Both rocks and handmade ceramics contain clues at the macro and micro scale that tell the story of their creation and deformation. As an artist and geologist, I combine my love for clay and geology by making pots that embrace the unpredictable qualities of earth affected by heat, pressure, and time.
I have had an affinity for geology and the outdoors for my whole life, as I grew up collecting rocks and exploring the natural world with my father. I inherited my love of geology from him, and to me rocks inherently remind me of our whimsical and wonderful father-daughter bond. My process is special to me because it combines happy childhood memories with my love for working with clay and my phenomenal geological education. My pots are more than functional objects, as they also represent my passions and life history in a tangible, three-dimensional way.
I throw most of my pots on the wheel and use various techniques to create interesting, geological surfaces. Recently I have been incorporating a high iron native red clay slip on the surface of my pots. I enjoy the direct ground-to-pot process of using native clay as a decorative surface treatment as it relates to geology in such a direct way, and the impressions left by my fingers are evidence of human impact. I prefer to fire my work in atmospheric conditions as these kiln environments further enhance variability, connection to nature, and emulate the extreme temperatures that rocks often enjoy when subducted to great depth in the earth.
From start to finish, my pots take a matter of weeks to make, whereas geologic processes can take millennia to affect rocks. My work is an accelerated, abstracted recreation of natural processes that have been cycling for incomprehensible amounts of time and will surely continue to cycle indefinitely. The fact that such small-scale objects like drinking vessels can encapsulate the same qualities as large scale, dazzling natural landscapes and earth processes- often too grand to fall within human comprehension- is exhilarating. This combined with the familial significance that my pots hold makes ceramics a personally fulfilling way to express myself.
Exhibitions
Pitcher Perfect, Good Earth Pottery, WA, Juror Deb Schwartzkopf, September 1st – 30th, 2019
9th Annual Workhouse Clay International 2019, Workhouse Arts Center, VA, Juror Peter Beasecker, August 10th– October 13th, 2019
FunctionFest 2019, Clay Center of New Orleans, LA, Juror Adam Field, November 1st – December 14th, 2019
CHEERS! Drink Up! Celebrating the Clay Drinking Vessel, Commonwheel Artists Co-Op, CO, Juror Sumi von Dassow, June 7th – Jult 1st, 2019
Invited to co-jury The Art of the Bowl, Studio Boreas Gallery, NY, Co-Juried by Teresa DeSantis and Lauren Visokay, Jan. 1st – Feb. 20th, 2020
Invited to co-jury The Art of the Cup, Studio Boreas Gallery, NY, Co-Juried by Teresa DeSantis and Lauren Visokay, Nov. 1st – Dec. 27th, 2019
Invited to Earth to Table, Upstairs Artspace, NC, curated by Wyndy Morehead, Summer 2019
Invited to The Artists of Cub Creek, Blue Ridge Community College, VA, Feb. 23rd – April 5th, 2019
Eleventh Annual Cup Show: Form and Function, Amelia Center Gallery, FL, Juror Adam Field, Mar. 1st -Apr. 5th, 2019
Twin Cups National Ceramics Exhibition 2019, Missouri Western State University Clay Guild, MO, Veronica Watkins, Feb. 22nd – Mar. 22nd, 2019.
Ware/Wear Drinking Vessel + Earring Show, Pocosin Arts, NC, Jurors Kathleen Browne and Tom Bartel, Feb. 21st – June 29th, 2019
Sip: A Ceramic Cup Show, Savannah Clay Community, GA, Juror Liz Zlot, Mar. 6th -- 8th, 2019
Geaux Cups II, Clay Center of New Orleans, LA, Juror Jennifer Allen, Feb. 1st – 21st, 2019
The Clay Cup IV, University of Missouri Bingham Gallery, MO, Juror Ayumi Horie, Oct. 8th – Nov. 1st, 2018
Ingenuity, A Juried Sculpture and Fine Crafts Exhibition, Marin Society of Artists, CA, Juror Ariel Zaccheo, Oct. 3rd – Oct. 27th, 2018
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, Del Ray Artisans Gallery, VA, Juror Lisa York, Sept. 7th – Sept. 30th, 2018
A Sense Of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, GA, Juror Judy Onofrio, Sept. 7th – Oct. 12th, 2018
FunctionFest, Clay Center of New Orleans, LA, Juror Kristen Kieffer, Nov. 2nd - Dec. 1st, 2018
Vitreous, Clay Center of New Orleans, LA, Juror Jennifer McCurdy, Sept. 7th – 29th, 2018
Atmospheric, The Clay Center of New Orleans, LA, Juror Linda Christianson, April 2018
4th Annual Dirty South Cup Call and Competition, River Oaks Square Art Center, LA, Juror Sam Chung, Apr. 6th – May 26th, 2018
Twin Cups National Ceramics Exhibition 2018, Missouri Western State University Clay Guild, MO, Juror Mike Stumbras, Feb. – Mar. 2018
Geaux Cups: The Clay Center of New Orleans Annual Cup Show, The Clay Center of New Orleans, LA, Juror Andrew Gilliatt, Feb. 2nd – Feb. 24th, 2018
Sip: A Ceramic Cup Show, Savannah Clay Community, GA, Juror Ben Carter, Feb. 23rd – Mar. 2nd, 2018
Identi-TEA: 16th Biennial Teapot Exhibition, Craft Alliance Center of Art and Deisgn, MO, Juror Bruce Pepich, Jan. 12th - Mar. 19th, 2018
5x5x5 Show, Red Oaks Square Art Center, LA, Juror Linda Dautreuil, Nov. 17th, 2017 - Feb. 10th, 2018
Hot, Fresh, and Glazed, Ann Arbor Art Center, MI, Juror Nawal Motawi, Nov. 10th – Dec. 3rd, 2017
Non-Majors Art Exhibition, The College of William and Mary, VA, April-May 2017
Genesis, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, VA, Juror Asa Jackson, April 2017
Alumni Showcase, Albemarle High School, VA, Invited by Angela Gleeson, August 2015
