Ceramics

Body Platters

A collection of three platters combining paper transfer, laser print transfer, lithography, and painting on ceramics.

This collection explores the creation of forms and surfaces that reference the body and create a "fleshy" feeling in ceramic sculpture.

Top: 12"x12"3"
Middle: 18"x10"x3"
Bottom: 22"x14"x4"

Collective Self portrait

Total space: 24"x24"
Underglaze, underglaze pencil, mason stain wash, and clear glaze on stoneware.

An extension of the exploration of body in the platter pieces, this collection of everyday objects recreated at life-size in stoneware act as a self portrait through association. I chose objects that I carry with me every day and printed/painted on them in the various methods I work in: screen prints of my face are repeated across flat surfaces; finger prints in areas I hold and use these objects; and repetitions of modular body parts like eyes, bones, and teeth.
Cracks and irregularities in the clay, along with the cartoon-like quality of the pieces add to the presence of self in the work.

Trans goddess

3'x18" white and red underglaze on stoneware with wooden base.

This piece is a take on the collection of prehistoric Mesopotamian “Goddess” sculptures displayed at the University of Michigan Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. I took the ideas of fertility—both visually and symbolically—and applied them to a modern context: I made the goddess in the sculpture a transgender woman. Trans women struggle with literal fertility issues (both forced sterilization and medications that reduce fertility), but they also struggle with the other aspects of fertility that these statues represent: freedom of sexuality and prosperity. I gave the sculpture wide hips and a fat stomach to reflect the original sculptures, and to carry those ideas of fertility and prosperity to a group of people who don’t usually get to be seen in that light.
The simplistic style, lack of head, and rounded-off knees are reflections of the original Mesopotamian sculptures, many of which were designed without head or lower legs.

This piece won the 2020 Jackier prize and currently resides in the Kelsey Museum.

fish

All 8"x6"x2"
Slip-cast porcelain

A collection of slip-cast bluegills from a one-sided mold I created to test various glazes and glaze combinations, all of which I designed and tested.