About Concession
The role of the natural environment in my art practice is immense. As a clay artist, I work with the earth. I have chosen a material that has seen the time that it takes for mountains to rise and rivers to form their paths—a breadth of time that, as an observer, I can barely imagine. Referencing imagery from the environment, I build each piece using multiple strips of clay, capturing the movement, accumulation, and adaptation around us daily. I search for the moments where the lines and movement work together, allowing viewers to see something new with every glance, yielding to a unique appreciation of the world around us.
Seeking reconciliation between our impact as a species and the dynamic natural environment in which we live, my work is a reminder of the cause and effect between us and the environment. The visual movement of each piece acts as a reminder of the constantly changing world around us. Moreover, as the clay in my unfired installation dries, it shrinks and lightens in color, providing a constantly changing and unique experience for the viewer. Placing nails across “Concession” in the shape of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline gives the clay something to respond to as it dries overtime, cracking along the representation of a man-made impact across the state. My installations and my fired tiles are ultimately a reminder of the ephemerality of life: a reminder of the constant fluctuation within our environments and the role that we take in the balance of our ever-changing world.