My work is powerful and evocative. I enjoy defying expectations through paradoxes that explore cultural challenges and skewed perceptions. In my art, reality is often blended with abstraction, masculinity with femininity, and the living with the dead.
This contrast extends into my process as well. I like to mix rough materials with smooth, glazes with matte, and soft lines with hard. My ceramic sculptures often incorporate materials such as steel, porcelain, glass and gold luster to provide contrast. Many include found objects, such as scrap metal or recycled jewelry. Creating each piece is a multi-step process. In order to incorporate these diverse materials and textures, I have to fire many of my sculptures several times.
My goal is to convey perception rather than reflect reality. Internal and external influences are incorporated into my designs, with faces meant to convey emotions and details meant to express societal pressure. I like to blend the beautiful with the grotesque, joy with sorrow, and pleasure with pain, to remind us that these are not mutually exclusive.
As far as my inspiration goes, I would have to say that Da Vinci, Saint Phalle, Rodin, Bacon, Bosch, Bruegel, Dali, and Ernst have influenced me most heavily. Their work is often seen as rather dark, some would even say grotesque, yet it is evocative. I strive for each of my pieces to be more than a pretty sculpture: I want them to be bold and emotionally stirring.
I have fond memories of these two sculptures: “Queen Bee”
And “Argus”
