I make small-batch functional ceramics inspired by the relationships we've created between nature and our built environments. I am interested in how we carve spaces for ourselves out of the natural world at both an individual and societal level. My vessels are my meditative exploration of how those created spaces both connect and isolate us to the earth, natural habitats, and each other.
I explore a range of functional forms, drawing influence from urban planning, climate adaptation, Brutalist architecture, and my home city of New York City. Every vessel is an invitation to contemplate our built environments and their communities. Through form and surface decoration, I consider how each work contains its potential contents, how it coexists with other vessels, and how permeable I perceive these boundaries to be. My emphasis on everyday functional items invites their users to incorporate regular reflection about what unites and separates them from their neighbors both literal and metaphorical.
My practice centers on slab-building, coil-building, and wheel-trimming techniques with a range of stoneware claybodies that contain fine grog. I create surface designs through marbling clays, nerikomi techniques, carving with tools, water etching, and by applying a variety of slips, engobes, oxide patinas, and glazes, often in resist-patterns. I fire my work in an oxidation environment to cone 6 (~2200°F/1200°C) to create durable, food-safe, and vitrified pieces while limiting my studio's dependence on fossil fuels and impact on air quality.