Artist Statement
I am a fine artist agitating at the border of ceramic making and textile thinking. I have always been told that I learn kinaesthetically, clay’s malleability and the sensory feedback it provides; lends itself to how I naturally come to understand my place in the world. My work explores a state of fragmented belonging. An awareness of my smallness and a sense of an ineffectual ability to control world events. I focus on both figurative forms and the iconography of damaged domestic objects to offer the potential to reflect the complexities of the human condition. The conflicts around our relationship with the wider world is an area for my current thinking. Drawn instinctively to clay for its dual motif, symbolising both the earth for its material makeup, and the body for the interaction marked within its form and surface. I enjoy the stories of creation that lay within this material. These works are both sentient beings and of the earth, they are grounded. As I work I embody the role of spectator, objectively watching over.
I utilise the textile processes of weaving and stitching to symbolise a healing, like darning a beloved and worn jumper, the mend is affectionate. Working threads through broken objects gently comforting and protecting it from further harm. They emerge stronger, more durable. I am both the omniscient spectator, the work itself and the benevolent healer. I feel my practice ultimately is interested in attempting reconciliation.