Artist's Statement
I am fascinated with how the subconscious manifests itself through our hands. My goal is to consciously sculpt the world I live in, to tell stories of healing and transcendence. I create stories around characters with both human and fantastical qualities which have relatable experiences and provide examples of different ways we can heal and practice taking care of ourselves and each other. I want to explore symbols and archetypes, and how humans use these to generate myths and direct our narratives.
Human relationships—with ourselves, friends, families, lovers, and communities—are also a central theme for me. My work examines the effects we have on each other and the environment, and the healing that can occur when we accept the paradoxes within our own identities and those around us.
Hardly anything keeps me as grounded or makes me feel as alive as working in three-dimensional mediums does. I think through my hands. It is crucial for me to have this movement and physical contact with the world to avoid becoming lost in abstractions. I love textures and anything that connects me to reality through my senses. Kneading wet clay makes me think about the earth, and all the information we have from past cultures because of the durability of ceramics. I consider myself an instrument for telling the macrocosmic story of the human experience with a microcosmic lens.
In addition to tactile interaction with my environment, another crucial aspect of my creative process is interacting with people. I think a lot about how we use those around us as mirrors, sometimes in search of the truth, and sometimes seeking comfort or flattery. Another important aspect of my creative process is the joy of sharing my work with others, and the connections that sharing facilitates.
I am interested in how the human hands are unique in distinguishing humans from most other mammals, how they correlate with our brains, and how we use them to build our reality. Hands are points of transmission between the mind and the tangible world. Hands symbolize free will—they have the power to both create and destroy. It is largely because of human hands that we have the art and culture we have today. They help us communicate. We gain information through sensory input, through touch.
Hands also symbolize power and control. I have found that my creative process, however, requires that I relinquish a particular need for control in order for my feelings, thoughts, and ideas to be fully realized in three-dimensional form. As I evolve as an artist, I hope to build a sustainable creative practice that allows me to create stories of healing, transformation, and personal and collective power.
Human relationships—with ourselves, friends, families, lovers, and communities—are also a central theme for me. My work examines the effects we have on each other and the environment, and the healing that can occur when we accept the paradoxes within our own identities and those around us.
Hardly anything keeps me as grounded or makes me feel as alive as working in three-dimensional mediums does. I think through my hands. It is crucial for me to have this movement and physical contact with the world to avoid becoming lost in abstractions. I love textures and anything that connects me to reality through my senses. Kneading wet clay makes me think about the earth, and all the information we have from past cultures because of the durability of ceramics. I consider myself an instrument for telling the macrocosmic story of the human experience with a microcosmic lens.
In addition to tactile interaction with my environment, another crucial aspect of my creative process is interacting with people. I think a lot about how we use those around us as mirrors, sometimes in search of the truth, and sometimes seeking comfort or flattery. Another important aspect of my creative process is the joy of sharing my work with others, and the connections that sharing facilitates.
I am interested in how the human hands are unique in distinguishing humans from most other mammals, how they correlate with our brains, and how we use them to build our reality. Hands are points of transmission between the mind and the tangible world. Hands symbolize free will—they have the power to both create and destroy. It is largely because of human hands that we have the art and culture we have today. They help us communicate. We gain information through sensory input, through touch.
Hands also symbolize power and control. I have found that my creative process, however, requires that I relinquish a particular need for control in order for my feelings, thoughts, and ideas to be fully realized in three-dimensional form. As I evolve as an artist, I hope to build a sustainable creative practice that allows me to create stories of healing, transformation, and personal and collective power.
