Artist Statement

In my pottery, relationships between forms and images make connections between objects and ideas. Inspired by late eighteenth century French Sevres vase garnitures and Renaissance Mediterranean apothecary jars (albarelli), these works utilize the negative spaces between pottery forms as apertures or images. The viewer's gaze vacillates back and forth between the positive and negative components inviting them to determine possible relationships between the vessel forms and the images formed by the negative space between these forms. This oscillation between image and object creates an illusion of movement which references time-based art forms such as animation and music. Metaphorically this movement speaks to changes during growth, sexual differentiation and aging which are also incorporated into the pieces. I see these works as three-dimensional manifestations of pottery decoration, not as sculpture. Images generated by the garnitures often inspire two-dimensional vase decoration and vice versa.