My work in ceramics is centered around my fascination with geometry, both in two and three dimensions. Although I’ve always been drawn to patterns and shapes, it wasn’t until after losing my first born daughter, Annabelle, at 22 weeks into my pregnancy, that I found solace in the universal connections found in geometry. In the depths of my grief I had to step away from clay, but in its place found the technique of drafting Islamic geometric designs. Before losing her, my work centered around the challenge of how to hand build complex geometric shapes. After losing her, my work came alive when I began to screen print the geometric patterns I had learned to draft directly onto these forms. It is through this combination of three-dimensional shapes and geometric surface patterns that I found wonder and endless possibility in my work. Indeed, the form manifests in a million different ways depending on the orientation of a pattern. Add to this combination the elements of color, clay body, and firing atmosphere and the possibilities simply never end.

 

     Working with stoneware, all of my forms are hand built from clay slabs. The shapes that I choose to build generally come from a reference of three dimensional shapes defined by their regularity, although I do draft my own shapes depending on the desired function of a form. Included in my body of work, although lacking the intricate facets of the other forms that I build, but possessing their own geometric magic, are also cylinders and circles.

 

     I am continually adding to my library of patterns to use as surface decoration. I draft these patterns from the study of a range of sources, including sacred geometry, mathematics, and Islamic geometric design. Once I began to look for geometric patterns in the world, I found myself overwhelmed and delighted with patterns found in nature, architecture, and design.

 

     These patterns and structures - mandalas, rosettes, zellige tiling from Morocco, golden ratio spirals, platonic solids, chemical structures - are echoed and embedded in my work. When I create, I do so with the hope that my work will be held by both your eyes and your hands, awakening a new curiosity and awe in the patterns that envelop our lives.