“Water, stories, the body, all the things we do, are mediums, that hide and show what’s hidden. Study them and enjoy being washed by this secret we sometimes know and then not.”

Craig Childs 

Artist Statement  2021

Fascinated by the forces of erosion and deposition I discover during my travels, my paper clay sculptures explore the impact of vulnerability, protection and duplicity. Paramount, is waters impact on us- as a necessary life source, and alternately- resulting in terrifying, life changing events.  The remarkable beauty of desert canyon walls reveal historical marks left by horrific water events. Or how the landscape is permanently altered from human irrigation systems. Notably as a clay artist the presence of water in clay allows us to mold forms, only to be chemically turned to stone with the absence of water (and the addition of fire-pyrogirl!). 

Significant events occur in nature and in our lives, past events are exposed, new paths emerge, and events out of our control can permanently alter a river’s course, or respectively impact us for generations. Negative space represents the impressions of past events, past relationships, words not said, the space between us -as I seek to provoke mystery through the interaction of separate elements. Using the tension and harmony I witness in nature as a metaphor for a window into our subconscious, the surprising strength of paper clay allows me to explore those disparate relationships by incorporating torn and fragile, repetitive components; ultimately representing the monumentality of even the most intimate, complex, and vulnerable of spaces.