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Artist's Statement
The world is jammed with pain, need, and callousness. Even though there are faint glimmers of light, my hope is very fragile. The more I learn, see, and experience, the more precarious it becomes.
Karen Louise Fletcher referred to the dilemma of the spirit incarnate
1. Ann Lamott says that we are not humans in a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings in a human experience2. My work shows snap shots of this conflicted existence. My characters show our hurt, our depravity, and our brokenness. This baggage weighs us down, and ages us beyond our years, shown in the figures' tired features.
My figures are enveloped so that only their expressive faces can be seen. This references the Ancient Egyptian tradition of preparing canopic jars as part of a lengthy preparation for the after-life. These trapped figures also refer to the concept of our spirits being ensnared in corrupted physical forms. Each character develops from my interactions with the people around me. I am drawn to older faces that bear the marks of experience. To quote Lamott again,the older ones all looked like God
2. If we are tired of our iniquity, God must be even more so.
Even though our race seems pathetically broken, there are occasional glimpses of hope. God has not left us. I believe that He suffers with us, but we are deaf and blind to His presence. I manifest this hope through the care and detail I invest in each individual character. Even though each character has dangerous secrets, each one has an element of beauty.
- 1 Karen Louise Fletcher as quoted in 500 Figures in Clay, Lark Books 2004, p. 86
- 2 Lamott, Anne. Plan B. New York, Riverhead Books: 2005.
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Process
All my sculptures are built hollow, using a mix of coil-building and pinching. I sort out ideas for sculptures through sketching and maquettes, but the building process is very organic. Although I have several ideas in mind when I start a sculpture, the way the clay responds determines the outcome of a piece.
I aim to capture a dirty liveliness in the colouring of my sculptures. I keep the colouration simple to draw attention to the forms and to the faces in particular. For the skin of my figures, I apply stains and slips to achieve a flesh tone with a rough texture. Although I want the bodies to be visually stimulating, the stripes and colours used are meant to be secondary to the colour and texture of the faces. The wrappings of the torsos and the outfits on the full figures are meant to add an element of playfulness, in contrast to the often heavy emotions portrayed on the faces.
Artist Bio
I was seduced by clay while studying fine arts at Houghton College. I began my career as a sculptor working in stone; however, I quickly shifted my attention to clay. I was captured by the immediate responsiveness of the medium and its fleshiness as it pushed back against my hands.
After graduating with my Bachelors in Art, I continued to work with clay and study its roots and applications. My first studio was in my mother's basement, where I covered her lovely pool table with plywood and canvas. The communities in the Burlington Potters' Guild and the Arts Centre were invaluable to my growth during my first year after university. In 2005, I moved into a private studio in my own home. As part of my study of ceramics, I spent three years exploring functional work. Although I continued to enjoy the medium, I did not find functional work emotionally or spiritually satisfying. In 2007, I returned to sculptural ceramics, which provides an outlet for my thoughts.
As an avid reader, I have had several growth spurts in my relationship with clay. I am so grateful for Ceramics Monthly, one of my favourite treats. I have also learned a great deal from researching the work of other artists, like Tom Bartel, Adrian Arleo, and Tip Toland. I am currently involved in a Mentorship Program for Ceramic Artists, run through the Burlington Arts Centre. This is helping me to find new areas for development in my work, as I interact with ceramic artists at various points in their careers. I continue to find inspiration from my experiences and a variety of literature.
(Born in Hamilton, ON in 1981; currently living in St. Catharines)
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