Artist Statement
Survival can be seen as a test of concepts, ideas, social systems and physical objects. Through the vehicle of organic form, my ceramic work explores the confining and creative aspects of life as exemplified by the manipulation of clay bodies.
The nature of human struggle is to remain centered and flexible while embedded in a world of change. Buffeted by circumstance and emotion, we are transformed by experience, yet retain our essential character. Just as natural objects are subjected to the forces of earth, wind and fire, our endurance is tested by the trials of life and death, and we approach our limits - our edge. In my work, clay represents the core of being. Fire, construction, and deconstruction methods embody the forces - physical, spiritual and psychological - that transform it.
A life of searching brings me to the stepping off point where I map cause and effect. I choose to position myself “at cause”, so that I’m not merely living in reaction as events are thrust upon me. My works are survivors, just as I am, and some show the scars of a rough road.
About Me
My life has been spent pursuing one artistic project after another. In 1968, I earned a B.S. in Interior Design from MSU. After pursuing this interest for a number of years, the realization that I am more of a hands-on artist, led me to establish a business creating one-of-a kind wool capes. Eventually, my interest in fine art prompted me to found a business in decorative painting which was rewarding but limited. In 2001, I re-enrolled in MSU to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts. When I took my first ceramics class, I knew that this was the medium for me.
This earthy substance requires a level of involvement that suits me: hands-on and consuming. All the many part of the process appeal to me, from clay and glaze production, which entails precise experimentation and chemical study, to ideation of content and meaning, involving reading, study and thought, to creation with its many hours in the studio, and finally to the power and mystery of the firing process.