Ceramic Arts Daily

Factory Work Series #3, 28 in.
(71 cm) in length
hand-built
stoneware, slip-cast porcelain,
electric fired to cone 6,
2008.

Factory Work Series #5, 10 in.
(25 cm) in width,
hand-built
stoneware, slip-cast porcelain,
electric fired to cone 6,
2009.

In my current studio work, the Factory Work Series, I am equally interested in formal design considerations and conceptual concerns. Each piece is carefully crafted with emphasis on elements in contrast; most notably the delicate white figures juxtaposing the crusty industrial machinery. The bold visual contrasts amplify the tension in the suggested narratives.

The sculptures signify many like people repeating antiquated habits. I am interested in the tensions between traditional and contemporary ideologies and cultural habits, particularly regarding the individual and the collective. In this series, the individual’s concerns of futile labor, under-rewarded effort, and unsupported ambition are put against the collective’s mindless productivity, blind conformity, and mass indifference. The visually pleasing formal design and charming figures are bittersweet irony.

This was excerpted from Ceramics Monthly magazine’s
“Emerging Artists 2009″ feature, which appeared in the May 2009 issue.
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