Flow and Break

The grace of a perfect curve, broken by an unexpected drape or texture has a visual fascination for me. Both the curve and the break are unfinished without the other. The curve without the break is a run-on sentence without end, an aria without a breath.  The break without the curve is staccato and jarring, lacking the poetry to lift the spirits. Working together they are melody and rhythm. Add to that texture in the form of folds, drips, and dots and the natural feel of my native Hawaii begins to emerge. Lava rock and seafoam are reflected in the softly cratered surface. 

Influenced by the grace and flow of both Art Nouveau and AI Architecture, and the attention to defined transitions as seen in land art artists like Andy Goldsworthy and Michael Heizner, this work celebrates both flow and break, and the dependence they have on each other to create dynamic work. Artificial Intelligence designed architecture through artists like Hassan Ragab have a special fascination as the computer reimagines the curves of Art Nouveau with perfect precision.

I have always loved digging in the dirt to find interesting rocks, then using those rocks as pigments to create artwork. When I was young, these artworks were created with ochre rich rocks from North Carolina ground into the driveway next to the house. My Mother was thrilled.  Now I buy those rocks ground into powder and add them to my glazes. I love experimenting with glaze chemistry to see what those ground up rocks do when they are introduced to intense heat again. 

I have been leaning more and more towards working with hand built forms instead of the wheel for the feeling it gives of slowly uncovering an artifact, a treasure from the Earth. There is something so balanced and satisfying about taking materials from the Earth and creating a piece, then subjecting it to the intense heat it has already felt at least once in its long journey from core to mantle, and giving it a new form and purpose. I almost feel like a caretaker, not a creator.  I didn’t make these materials, I just gave them their most current shape.

Coil and smooth construction has become the main way of creating new work.  Its emphasis on a primitive, hands on technique to create sophisticated and subtle work feeds another angle of contrasts. (flow vs break, primitive vs sophisticated)  The repetition of coiling, smoothing, and shaping allows an intimacy with the work that, for me, is not found when working on the wheel. The coils continue on the surface of the vessel to become the drips and folds that accentuate the form. These drips and folds may receive texture in the form of various sized dots, impressions, or cuts.