MFA Cranbrook Academy of Art
Work created during MFA pursuit at Cranbrook Academy of Art
I have found myself continually returning to the idea of cumulative information, asking myself questions such as, “how can information reveal itself through repetitive process?” Perhaps more importantly, before those ideas, I am seeking to understand my personal encounter with material from a fundamental perspective. What happens when I touch clay? What should I do with it? And how does it operate as a means of recording action?
Nearly every human being has had the experience of squeezing clay, forming coils, creating form. I often think in terms of these types of primal, instinctual actions/experiences, but seek to place my methods on a spectrum. I aim to create with direct (yet often mediated) processes and am always observant of my engagement with material. Clay is primary, but anything that makes its way into my studio becomes a part of the dialog. I am interested in highlighting interactions between my body and material, as well as ephemeral processes that are often only visible in the studio. I ultimately aim to produce work intuitively, and often think of the advice of Sol Lewitt’s famous letter to Eva Hesse, “You must practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty. Then you will be able to DO!”
I find I am most satisfied with my production when I am able to work in a thus inspired intuitive mode, only later making sense and order of what I am doing. My goals through this approach are to shed some light on the intangible acts of making, providing notions of both entropy and potentiality. Given a large enough sample size, what can we learn through these actions? When placed into systems, stacked upon one another, do they reveal patterns, in/consistency, potentially something unexpected and new?
I have found myself continually returning to the idea of cumulative information, asking myself questions such as, “how can information reveal itself through repetitive process?” Perhaps more importantly, before those ideas, I am seeking to understand my personal encounter with material from a fundamental perspective. What happens when I touch clay? What should I do with it? And how does it operate as a means of recording action?
Nearly every human being has had the experience of squeezing clay, forming coils, creating form. I often think in terms of these types of primal, instinctual actions/experiences, but seek to place my methods on a spectrum. I aim to create with direct (yet often mediated) processes and am always observant of my engagement with material. Clay is primary, but anything that makes its way into my studio becomes a part of the dialog. I am interested in highlighting interactions between my body and material, as well as ephemeral processes that are often only visible in the studio. I ultimately aim to produce work intuitively, and often think of the advice of Sol Lewitt’s famous letter to Eva Hesse, “You must practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty. Then you will be able to DO!”
I find I am most satisfied with my production when I am able to work in a thus inspired intuitive mode, only later making sense and order of what I am doing. My goals through this approach are to shed some light on the intangible acts of making, providing notions of both entropy and potentiality. Given a large enough sample size, what can we learn through these actions? When placed into systems, stacked upon one another, do they reveal patterns, in/consistency, potentially something unexpected and new?
