About the work

Since the days of childhood, I have been engrossed with New Brunswick’s rugged coastline and serine rolling hill interiors. The foggy lichen frosted forests, moss covered rocks, and jagged cliffs harness the inspiration for my work.

With a trained eye for traditional vessel forms, I am attracted to the Zen Buddhist philosophy of wabi-sabi, which sees beauty in imperfection. I like things that are unique, authentic and irregular. I love tinkering with familiar shapes and reconfiguring them into contemporary forms. Fascinated by how we relate to the outer surface of a vessel, yet drawn into the interior, my work has also expanded to abstract forms, which imbue nature’s essence, with little reference to known vessels.

The surfaces come to life through my constant development and exploration of non-traditional techniques. With no standards to saturation and hues, the textured surfaces bring to mind lichen, bark or the parched, cracked earth. Each work may have their surfaces added to or partially removed until I am satisfied and intrigued by the delicate surfaces of unpredictability that occurs.

 I dig local clays and create my own signature glazes to strike a balance between natural and controlled art forms. Recently, an addition of monofilaments through an electrostatic process adds another layer of velvety delight to the forms.

KOLK

The concept for this body of work, Kolk, is inspired by New Brunswick’s Acadian Coastline, where adjacent to certain streams and riverbeds, naturally occurring cylindrical depressions can be found in the bedrock. These kolks, or pot-hole-like crevasses, occur when water currents spin small boulders that erode the rock over time.

 Using ceramic materials, I create abstract forms that vary in shape and size to give the impression of hefty objects. The kolk-inspired actions that I will use to make these works will produce deep bored-out holes that will give the sense of weathered rock. Others will be a cross section of the Kolk formation leading to more conceptualised sculptures.

 Flocking

My latest addition to my sculptural works is a collection of highly organic clay forms, soft in shape, feel and intensely rich in colour. Instead of surfaces featuring raised cracked textures bringing to mind lichen, bark or the parched, cracked earth, these works are treated using flocking powder.

The works ­carry velvet-like surfaces, reminiscent of the soft silky vibrant colours and textures of wild mushrooms and fungi found in New Brunswick. I use an electrostatic technique which allows for an even distribution of different length fibres to adhere to a non-toxic glue on my works. This inspired art form of flocking was invented by the Huaxia peoples during the Shang Dynasty period in China some 3,000 years ago.