Elastic Clay
Artist's Statement: I engineer clay to stretch the physical and structural expectations of ceramics. By introducing polymers into the clay body to achieve elasticity, I am able to pull the material into states of extreme tension. I knit, crochet, and weave the engineered clay strands exactly like thread. This material elasticity is more than a technical exercise; it is a direct means to unravel the rigid traditions and destabilize the foundational frameworks of ceramics.
In the Knot Pots series, tension warps the very architecture of the vessel. As the clay follows the interwoven structures of fiber craft, its resulting cracks, twists, and fractures become integral to the form. This process is not a pursuit of flawless perfection, but a framework of tight control built specifically to let the material fail on its own terms. Through this structural friction, failure punctuates the work's primary formal language.
This physical strain is mirrored in the series title. While the knot’s complex networks bind the form, an active negation drives its identity: a refusal to serve. Bound by intricate craft systems, these vessels become sites of contradiction defined entirely by what they refuse to be. This is more than a challenge of material limits; it is a redefinition of the contemporary vessel. In their final, fired state, they abandon utility to declare that the medium is no longer bound to the service of the pot.
This structural tension becomes deeply personal in the Kink series, where material elasticity explores queer identity, intimacy, and desire. Capitalizing on the dual meaning of a "kink"—as both a physical deviation from a straight line and an expression of human connection—these knit and crocheted articles of intimate attire mirror the social frictions of navigating a world built for conformity. Rather than adhering to polite ceramic traditions, these loaded objects celebrate the agency found when a body twists away from standard conventions to exist entirely on its own terms.
This dialogue anchors my work within the lineage of conceptual ceramic theory, stripping the medium of its utilitarian expectations. I approach material engineering as a means to give the material more agency. Engineered matter then gets to dictate its own conceptual subversion. Ultimately, the structural tension of the clay and the social friction of the human experience collapse into a single narrative: an autonomous, self-determined medium.
