I am drawn to architectural forms and its ornament spanning history and
cultures. A persistent theme has been industrial structures as containers or
dwellings. The current "grain elevators" have a formal simplicity and starkness that remind me of a De Chirico painting where perspective and space are given a palpable sense of foreboding. To me, these forms are graphically strong and iconic in stature.

Working from photographs and drawings the flattened forms play with
perspective and make direct or oblique reference to the teapot. These
structures are remnants housing memory and an abandoned sense of place and time. Projected onto the somewhat eroded surfaces are images/glimpses that are drawn, incised, etched. Hiding in shadow are mummy-like vents acting as stand-ins for handles or spouts implying a human presence. Some are more playful variations on a theme and some more somber.

There is an unconventional beauty that draws me to these industrial forms
and the urban landscape in general. I see them while riding the train, juxtaposed incongruously against beautiful ornamentation or standing alone against the horizon. Having grown up in Chicago, I have come to see these forms as our modern-day ruins both mysterious and evocative.

I have been a ceramic artist and instructor in Chicago for over 20 years. I
began as a functional potter after college and then pursued more sculptural
work such as architecturally inspired vessels, decorative bas-relief tiles
for kitchen and bath, and larger scale mural installations. I have also worked
with St. Nicholas Church in Evanston in creating Stations of the Cross and
with the Arts Partnership in the public schools to create theme based clay murals
with the students.

 

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