I make
work that investigates the balance between form and function exploring the
subtle beauty of modern and Brutalist architecture. Each tower created becomes a visual reference
to the
stark architectural buildings that have inspired
its form as well as a metaphorical
reference to the philosophies inherent in designs for
a social utopia.
My four Grandparents were all European emigres to New York in the early C20th and I grew up
understanding the importance of the sharing of food, served at the table, as
the place for storytelling, discussion, debate and the settling of issues. This
tradition has continued literally, in my home in
Cardiff with friends and neighbors as well as metaphorically through my designing and making
of stacked tableware. The
journalist, Christopher Beanland observed that 'you
can't see your reflection in a brutalist building, because its design was not
about the individual, it was about the multitude.'
By
creating thrown and stacked sculptural objects that when dismantled, become the
plates, bowls and vessels used to store, share and serve food and become the focus
of intimate meals, dinner parties and celebratory events the work comes into
its own and my interest in
food and architecture becomes clear.
Each individual piece is
hand-thrown from a
specially blended stoneware clay that has been developed to achieve a concrete colour and feel, and then meticulously sanded
and polished to a smooth finish and high-fired for durability. Each deconstructed tower reveals
an array of tableware exposing a variety of colourful
satin matt glaze interiors.
I received
my BFA in Ceramics from Alfred University and my MFA in Ceramics and mixed
media sculpture from Pennsylvania state University. I moved to the United Kingdom in 1999 and have continued to work as both a practicing
ceramic artist and educator. Based at Fireworks Clay Studios in Cardiff since
2000, I have exhibited nationally and internationally in both group and solo
exhibitions, contributed to various publications, led workshops in schools and community
groups and have undertaken residencies. I have also worked on a number of commissions
including work for the British Television Series Sherlock Holmes and most
recently for the Maggie Cancer Care Centre in Cardiff. I received an arts
council development grant in 2005 and the Gold Medal for Craft and Design at
the National Eisteddfod in 2016. I currently
lecture in Fine art and Arts Health and Wellbeing at the University of South
Wales and have done so since 2011.
