I have always been interested in clay in its simplest and purest form, pushing the material as near to its breaking point as possible. No doubt that this sometimes leads me close to my breaking point. Starting as an undergraduate student at Parsons I was always fascinated with porcelain clay at its purest; unglazed, sanded and refined so not a blemish was visible. In graduate school I continued on my quest to see what porcelain was capable of. I began to develop a formula for translucent porcelain slip. My goal was that when the light shined through the pieces you could see through them. This took many months of experimenting with form and material. In the end the pieces were cast to roughly 1mm thickness. Using an exacto-knife, I carved each piece individually and fired them to roughly 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. The work was so thin and delicate that on more than one occasion a piece crumbled on the way to the kiln or severely warped during firing. Hours of work disappeared.

 

Following graduate school, I decided to push the clay in yet a different direction. I moved away from porcelain and began working with Raku clay. Raku is a type of Japanese pottery that involves a firing process by which pottery is fired at a relatively low temperature and then moved while glowing red hot to a pit of sawdust or a closed container with combustible natural materials. The clay and the material ignite and cause a reaction creating colors and patterns on the pottery's surface. Each piece is unique and unpredictable. I began working on the potter’s wheel and again pushing the forms in all direction. My surface designs continued to emphasize heavily textured raw clay, contrasted with colorful energizing glazes. My work proceeded in this direction for some time. Eventually I moved away from Raku clay and returned to porcelain clay, continuing on the potter’s wheel and emphasizing the contrast of glazed and unglazed clay forms and texture.

 

My current clay work has grown from an interest in exploring the differences and similarities between metal and clay. My work again emphasizes a contrast of materials, this time through two very different mediums. I am currently exploring ways to bring together porcelain and various types of metal to create distinct pieces that emphasize harmony, strength and beauty. The two materials have strong similarities and even stronger differences. Learning about metal and metal clay has been an interesting adventure so far, and a path I look forward to continuing on.