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My work is a collaboration of printmaking and ceramics. I am very interested in the idea of multiples, layering, pattern and process. I like using the surface of the functional ceramic forms like a canvas, and not just its utilitarian purpose. Combining the handcrafted vessel created from a natural material with the machine made computer created decal speaks on the history of the process. By merging the two different mediums of ceramics and printmaking processes together I am able to illustrate the process of a story and dream. Stories allow for endless imagination and the patterns and layers on my pottery allude to that possibility and acts as an allegory for storytelling. Authors like Salman Rushdie and Geoffrey Chaucer are big influences for my concepts and imagery. Their literature has enabled me to think about storytelling in a different light and inspired me to approach the subject in a different manner. My prints are the inspiration for my ceramic work, and at the same time I feel like my ceramic plates are individual prints themselves.
I tend to the ceramic surface by carving the clay, using stencils and silk-screening under glazes, using lithographic photo transfers, and finishing with decals. This process builds up a rich layering of images that represent the fragments of a story and deconstructs the literal illustration to a more complex and ornate surface. I use patterns to build up this layering of information and mix eastern and western prints to create my compositions. I also use the traditional Japanese Oribe style as an inspiration and technique with many of my forms to break up the composition and frame the images differently. The work of Elizabeth Robinson and Karen Koblitz are big influences with in my ceramic work. I work with three main forms: the plate, shallow paisley dish, and the altered jug. The plate is my canvas and allows me to create many different compositions of layers. I’ve begun to alter the plate some, making a deeper rim and creating a paisley or tear drop form. By doing this I am able to create my own three-dimensional patterning and the dishes are able to interact together. My altered jugs work as a group and are very conversational. They become characters that work or “talk” together. Hints of little stories begin to show up on the surface and start to reflect fragments of imagery from the plates. I am interested in the idea that everything we do or talk about becomes our own story. Whether we are gossiping, telling about your dream from the night before, or sharing a childhood experience. The altered jugs show the need for human connection and communication and works with the plate as it shows the build up or a story and possibilities of our imagination. |
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