Artist’s Statement

Or: How I Learned to Quit Worrying and Love the Process

My work is built by hand from the ground up. I choose not to use a potter’s wheel because I love the meditative act of handbuilding and the organic shapes produced as a result of impressionable clay retaining the individuality of the hands that shaped it. Pinch pots, coils and slabs are the building blocks of ceramics, and there is so much natural beauty in these elements of form.

I am love pottery because of its supreme versatility. Malleable raw clay becomes a durable final product, and the potential exists to create anything from a purely ornamental sculpture to a practical bowl - both of which are artful in their own right. Pottery is of the earth and to it, shall return. Once it outlives its functional life, the broken pieces won’t wind up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - if it makes its way to the ocean at all, it will sink to the bottom, creating a home for a hermit crab, a nest for an octopus, or a substrate for future coral reefs.

My goal is to create functional art with longevity. Art can adorn your walls, but it can also be infused into every facet of your life. Surrounding yourself with objects made mindfully brings an additional layer of awareness to your everyday activities. With monolithic corporations pumping out soulless, expendable (and often, plastic) objects left and right, it’s become a vital act of resistance to live a low impact lifestyle by shopping small and supporting local businesses and individual craftspeople.