About the Artist
Clay and Metal Fabrications
Artist Statement
My work examines and celebrates a state of flux. Liminal moments, outside of the ritual of determined pattern, stir and agitate existing parameters. They penetrate into the unconscious, creating new spaces from which to examine and comprehend shifting realities. Patterns or “self-similarity” within nature inspire us to situate ourselves into various states of organization and behaviors. We seek the utmost efficiency to live a deterministic existence. However, as soon as a piece of the pattern is interrupted, chaos ensues, leaving us in an uncomfortable state of uncertainty.
Cosmology, astronomy, geology, and biology inform the objects and installations I create. These systems, which are at the forefront of human discovery, reflect the empirical state of patterns that determine our present understanding of the physical world. I excite these patterns and shift perception through the introduction of human forces, pressures, or systems, inspired by chaos theory, to inspire a state of curiosity. New and unknown moments invoke a sense of wonder and invite the desire to explore.
Clay as a material lends itself to the moment-by-moment forces and pressures needed to create traces of patterns. Its malleability and transformative nature echo the state of curiosity and wonder I wish to invoke. Its association to human development inspires a sense of connectedness to time past and present. Clay in conjunction with light, another material linked cosmologically to past and present, create moments within my installation that straddle the known and unknown, celebrate the chaotic, and revel in a state of becoming.
I received my BFA from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and MFA from Michigan State University. My work in clay began in 2008 when I found inspiration in the material at the Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge, Colorado. After graduate school in 2016, I moved to Seattle, WA to live amongst the water, mountains, and city. I found a welcoming arts communities at Pottery Northwest, Seward Park Clay Studio, and Rat City Studios. I also found love and now live and share studio space with my girlfriend, Studio Potter, Deborah Schwartzkopf. In addition to my ceramic artwork, I am a metal fabricator building custom railings, staircases, and other household fixtures for a Seattle contractor. If you are interested in commissioning artwork from me, contact him via this website.