Mellan hägg och syren (between bird cherry and lilac) - A Swedish phrase referring to a blissful, fleeting period in spring that occurs in between the blooming of the Bird Cherry and the blossoming of the Lilac.

-

Small moments of beauty flitter through stories of grotesque realities. The quiet sublime in the center of a destructive storm - the memories treasured of land that was burned, and the sprouts which will grow again. My work acts as a sounding board for listening to the world around me and picking out moments of beauty to hold onto and honor. This reflection within the work provides hope in a world filled with violence, and encourages action beyond listening. I find inspiration within nature, as plants and animals around the world are needlessly destroyed for our convenience. I see my own capacity to turn to violence in a single moment - choosing to kill a mouse who had lost its way and gotten stuck in an unnecessary sticky trap. I find solace and joy in the quiet, meditative act of peeling a pomegranate, separating each seed from the pith and into a bowl to share with my friends and family. As I sit and peel my fruit the leaders of my country violently target the very communities that have cultivated and valued pomegranates for thousands of years.

Working with clay is my way of listening and remembering. More and more, I find myself a collaborative student of the material. Rather than attempting to control it or have it convey a messageon my behalf, I let it reflect back to me what I was experiencing while working with it. It aids in this reflection and provides a vessel for me to make sense of the world filled with such senseless acts.

I work through the simultaneous making of small scale, representational sculptures and larger vessel based forms. These works are then combined post firing to create each finished piece. With clay's ability to remember touch, it provides a collection of my internal thoughts to sort through, piece together and make sense of.

Much like a puzzle, I’m able to create and understand broader narratives through the larger forms as each small piece comes together. They act as vessels that contain the individual thoughts and display them, honoring each small action. These micro and macro thoughts reflect attention and action as a response to violence in the global sphere and our everyday choices. The pieces themselves act as a record of this process, preserving and acknowledging the beauty that perseveres despite it all.