Statement

My current body of work involves an exploration of the vessel as sculpture. At this point in my development as an artist, the sculptural presence of the pieces I create is my primary focus. I view pottery as the format I use, and art as the approach I take. Pottery has a well-developed position in our culture in both historical and contemporary contexts, and I use this context as the framework around which I create art. For many years I made pots for daily use and although I am not currently focusing on strictly utilitarian ware, I borrow much from functional forms in the work I am making today. I feel that being grounded in the vessel format does not hold me back from focusing on sculptural concerns; conversely it allows me to thoroughly explore the possibilities of form and surface while still being connected to our collective human experience.

Incorporating the marks of the making process is a tactic I often use. Cuts, tears and combing patterns create a rhythm on the surfaces of my vessels that directly relate to their overall form. Neatly applied areas of color sometimes contrast with the textural surfaces below and next to them. Often, my work is fired for 8-10 days in a wood-fired kiln which creates a richly layered surface and interplay with the textured and colored areas of the forms. Wood-firing provides a glazed surface that incorporates the process by which it was created like no other.

Investigating vessels as sculpture has been undertaken be cultures around the world for millennia. I hope to continue this practice in a contemporary context. I want my work to exist as a record of human interaction with natural materials and culturally developed processes. I think that vessels are significant not only in functional and cultural terms but also for their metaphorical value. The internal space, or void, enclosed by vessels is of great importance to me. I believe vessels symbolize humans’ complex relationship with both nature and culture and exist as reminders of what everything around us contains.

I grew up in a sub-rural community in the mountains above Santa Cruz, CA. Since I started working with clay as a teenager in the early 1990's, the process of making pots has steadily become a more important part of my life. While a student at San Francisco State University, where I graduated with a BA in Ceramics in 2003, I explored many formats eventually focusing on soda-fired functional pots. During my time in school I was given the opportunity to participate in several wood firings at Scott Parady’s Pope Valley kiln. My involvement with firings at that kiln has been renewed for the last several years and has become an important part of my life as an artist. When I’m not at work as the Lab Tech at the College of Marin Sculpture and Ceramics departments I’m home at my studio in Oakland making pots and sculpture.