Ceramic Work
Other Portfolio Work
2015-2017
In biology, a chimæra is created when two zygotes collide at an early stage of development, resulting in a creature containing two distinct sets of genes. The name is borrowed from Greek mythology where chimæras are monsters born with the mixed attributes of lions, snakes, and goats. Fictional creatures of synthesis, like chimæras, have entranced humans throughout history, making us ask: “What if?”
My interest in synthesis began when I was developing my undergraduate painting thesis. Each painting was developed based on a different archetypal narrative, such as Orpheus’ journey out of the underworld. What fascinated me about these narratives was their global ubiquity, and my goal for my thesis was to use them as themes to curate references from across history and culture and flatten them together into a single piece. In a fractured present I wanted to highlight that while humans are endlessly creative at local details, the stories that satisfy us are built on common refrains.
After graduating with a dual BFA in Painting and Illustration, I returned to MCC to gain experience in a three dimensional medium through ceramics. I found myself responding to the unique gestural quality of collapsed or altered thrown ceramic forms; in these forms, I found a fluid and confident energy that resisted the symmetries I expected of pottery. My painting background gave me a starting point to process and utilize the abstract gesture of these forms expressively.
As I experimented with the relationships of shape and surface within these chimæric forms I found myself something akin to a morphologist: imagining what might exist inside and what made their surfaces desirable or repulsive or alive; what their life cycles might be like and the process between budding and collapsing. My pieces were further enriched by many of the skill sets and concepts I have accrued through my education, from the narrative archetypes found in the works of Joseph Campbell and Jung, to the color sensitivity and eye for proportion I developed in figurative painting.
My understanding of art includes its function as visual communication; my work is not meant to voice answers, but to ask questions and deliver experiences. I want to create work that inspires viewers as equally as it inspires me.