I am fascinated by the beauty in the transient nature of living things. I use the visual metaphor of hollow pods and cocoons, empty shells, blooming or dying flowers to emphasize the impermanence in life. I freeze my soft forms into fired clay, an everlasting testimony to ephemeral changes. I am captivated by the balance and harmony in mortality, and how loss of strength softens the edges, and fading colors enhance fine details, making the surface almost translucent.
I emphasize the constant drama and struggle between form, surface, colors, texture, and how the passing of time has an effect on all of these to increase the stress on daily life and our existence in such troubled times, which now seems to affect everyone in every part of the World. Nature always yearns for harmony and thrives on balance, but feeds on energy which needs dissonance and conflict.
A blooming flower represents HOPE and embodies FUTURE. It carries the seeds for a new generation to come and it represents TIME while encapsulating its elusiveness. Our individual life exists in its impermanence only, but every living thing is a product of the magic of birth, a reproduction of previous generations and builds on the remains of the past.
With my fragile porcelain flowers, vibrant colors and rich surfaces I celebrate LIFE, which only exists in its passing, but at the same time it is that impermanent nature that gives the most powerful element to life — a hope for rebirth through the life of the next generation.
Two Flowers: One is pure white, free formed, fired gas reduction. The second flower is made from porcelain slabs, which were layered by porcelain colored with stains and saturated with oxides, hand built and fired by gas reduction. The two flower forms were attached after firing. Positioning them opposite each other creates a strong dissonance and balance simultaneously. One is the beginning, while the other symbolizes dying and like everything in life they are longing for balance and peace.