Artist Statement

Pattern and structure fill my visual landscape, from sinuous lines of eroding cliffs to the staccato rhythms of windows along a building’s skin. Such structures may imply an inherent rigidity, a slave to process and even a mathematical prediction. But in fact, an underlying structure provides a vast freedom to explore infinite variations. My ceramic sculptures pare form to its essence, revealing a slightly brutal beauty and the interconnections just below the surface. Often using modular repetition, integral structures result from the making process itself, nothing is superfluous, allowing the material and compositions to rise to the fore. Pattern is not mimicked but abstracted, shifting from its original inspirational source. I am fascinated by structure.

Clay is my partner and demands equal time in the conversation. As a material, it’s immutably concrete yet porous and transformative, recording my gestures and driving an intuitive creative process. Though clay’s utilitarian roots allude to an inherent strength, its contradictory qualities include moments of fragility that can undercut form. I push into this space, engaging the tension between these qualities and coaxing the limits of the material. That tiny gap between quiet strength and destruction demands my focused attention as I’m always searching for the precious edge to rest before collapse. My hope is the work invites the viewer to pause in that space and linger with curiosity. It’s that pursuit that propels and reminds me that working with clay is a constant practice of letting go in order to be revealed.