Artist Statement

I have always been drawn to objects whose history is written upon their surface: The river rock worn smooth from centuries of tumult; the bleached, chewed bone found on the desert floor; the bare-bones landscape of the American southwest. These objects speak to me of transformation, growth, and the inevitability of change. 
 
In my latest body of work, I am using visual metaphor to describe these processes. 
The pieces appear to have lived a life, and they carry the marks of their experiences. They have twisted, bent, divided and come together as they’ve been altered by the forces they’ve encountered. As I build each sculpture, I’m thinking of all the course corrections, miss-steps, new opportunities and potential, offered to almost every life---human and otherwise. I’ve created a visual vocabulary to describe these transformative experiences: The pointed elements describe new paths appearing; the rounded knobs and spheres describe areas of pure potential-- often appearing in unexpected places; each bend and curve represents a map of the choices made---some leading to dead ends, while others lead to greater possibilities.  
 
I work to infuse each piece with rhythm, flow, and reverberation. When finished, I need them to speak to me like a musical composition. Intrigued by contrasts, I move from slow, sweeping curves to staccato points and ridges, from enclosed space to open passage. By using an almost monochromatic palette, I keep the emphasis on the form of the piece. 
 
The sculptures are hand-built with stoneware clay, using pinch, coil and slab construction methods. After construction they are sanded smooth, sprayed with layers of slip, burnished, and fired to 2200˙f.