Selkieceramics
Breaking Point
In this series, wheel-thrown spheres of clay are ripped open and stretched with water to a natural breaking point. I carve parts away to integrate the opening rupture.
This process is about releasing doubt. Having the courage to reach an ending; letting certain pieces rip away, as the first authentic step towards something new taking shape.
These came during a time of needing to use my voice and break free.
In making these I was encouraging myself to see the beauty and strength in attuning to feelings of rupture and loss; of the vulnerability of belonging and connectedness. Amidst the pain were moments of expansion and exquisite aliveness, and a sifting of what to release, what to protect and what will take root.
I used a different firing process, cone 10 gas. I found a beautiful opalescent glaze- fitting because opal in its greek origin means to see change!
Individual Artist Project Grant is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
"All must fall away… Shedding is one of life’s most difficult tasks… We evolve, we falter, we learn from our transgressions, and then repeat them. We plunge back into the abyss we labored to exit and find ourselves within another turn of the wheel. And then having found the fortitude to do so, we begin the excruciating yet exquisite process of letting go."
~Patti Smith
Individual Artist Project Grant is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.