Contact Information:

tierrapicante@hotmail.com

Artist Statement:

As a ceramic sculptor, I use clay to give form and meaning to my ideas and feelings. I react with both my thinking and my emotions/intuition to the experience of chaos that is our world today. My daily interactions and reflections provide fertile ground for my work, as I try to capture something essential about the human condition.

Most of my sculptures are narrative, embodying stories from my experience, history, myths or contemporary life. Images of the natural world are also important elements in my work. I am interested in internal and external realities and the correlation or paradox they present. There are often different layers to any given item or situation, different points of view, different ways to interpret a context. By juxtaposing different forms and images I investigate and feel out these matters.

Much of my work has been figurative. A few years ago I started working with the chair as a form within which to explore narrative possibilities. Currently I make ceramic sculptures that are both figurative and chair based. I find that when I work on two types of pieces concurrently I have pathways open for conceptual and emotion based expression at the same time.
I hand build my pieces with coils and slabs, and sometimes molded elements. I often include glass or metal elements into the clay during the firing process, and found objects incorporated afterwards. I love textures, both in the clay and in the glaze surfaces. Trying to achieve the appropriate interaction between form and surface challenges my decisions about patterns, color and images at every stage. I love the immediacy of clay and the dialog that exists between the inherent characteristics of the material and my intentions and control. The process is dynamic and I am continually surprised and curious.

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