Current Artist Statement

Clay, so easily moved from a rough, raw state into a smooth and graceful elegance, has been the vessel through which my work has grown. The allure of the material combined with the reality of my work brings substance and form to my visions.  There is an over-abundance of clay on the earth’s surface; and the potential of what can be created from that material is endless.  What attracts me to this medium is its ability to take on the sharp, concise edges of man-made objects and just as easily merge into the organic softness of the human face.

My work, compelled by the complexities of humanity, is driven by our existence and the ambience we have created for ourselves.  Comparing and merging our humanness to the natural world and the life within that environment helps me describe our connectivity to the presence we live in.  The imagery in my current work relates to the philosophy of body and spirit in relation to our existence.  The questions running through me as my hands work is what urges the development of my sculpture.  Where does the body end and the inner-self or spirit start?  What exactly is existence and how is it possible that we exist at all?  Our world revolves around beginnings and endings.  Our lives start with the expectation that someday we will die.  It is part of humanity to question the nature of life.  Some are simply content with the answers of religion, while others are in constant question.  As my fingers continue to impress themselves into clay, more questions emerge, making their way into the imagery of my work.  Does time contradict life?  If we live in a world with this theory of time while also living with a sense of beginnings and endings and in the grand scheme of things not being able to see a beginning or an ending to time or the universe, then how is existence a possibility?    

Each project brings new challenge and vitality to my creative awareness.  The challenge of creating and the uncomfortable questions of life fuel my work as well as my outlook on the world.  What are the traits of humanity, and what do we assimilate them with?  Question paves the road to my creative self.