The role of the hand and the origin of materials play important roles in my thinking, as gesture and touch are important in my process. These attributes impart the work with immediacy and subtlety in telluric materials formed in geologic time.

My work is driven by transformation and imbuing a sense of wonder by exploring the material intelligence of locally harvested clay from Long Island and Central NY in my recent work. The ceramic medium has a porous surface which can absorb and filter, physically and metaphorically, containing a rich history of culture, place, and geologic time. I’m investigating the conceptual and aesthetic potential of the material through creating ceramic water filters, ceramic casts from erosion topographies, clay prints that leave a delicate trace, and paper chromatograms that can provide insights into soil health.

I’ve been experimenting and building with harvested clays that I dig in proximity to my home on Long Island, and where I teach in Central NY, between which my time and life are split. Duality is at the core of my approach between art and science and the handmade and manufactured. Chemistry and geology intersect my studio practice, which has been influenced by my study of science as an undergraduate. This duality further fuels my approach to considering form and generative studio processes while embracing both geometry and organic structure within the language of my work. While I often set parameters to guide the development of a series or body of work, intuition continues to play a significant role in consideration of texture, form, scale, and color. Although some of my past work is certainly painterly, it is important for the sculptures to operate in the same physical space that our bodies occupy. Sculptures require a viewer in motion and are never completely available, visually. I am drawn to this elusive and mysterious characteristic of sculpture, it is my hope to engage the curiosity of the viewer while also providing a sense of familiarity.