There are many ways to approach art-making with clay. For me, the choices are very conscious and tested. My work in clay is born of pottery and the vessel form. I follow various schools and cultural traditions to make both vessels that are sculptural in nature and pots that are intended for use.

Functional Vessels

My functional pots are a backdrop to prepared food, firmly connected to a passion for cooking and eating, a tribute to fresh ingredients showcased in markets around the world. When making tableware, I consider design and the rigors of daily use. The evidence of my hand in these pieces is modest, so that they can harmonize with and act as a support to the food rather than visually overwhelm it. I have taken inspiration from early 20th-century European and American studio artists and designers including H.T. Baumann, Lucie Rie, Edith Heath, and many anonymous artists who chose to embrace a restrained and graceful aesthetic to contribute to daily life in an artful way. I believe that living with handmade objects enhances life tremendously. I also support the notion of good design in affordable industrially produced ware.

Sculptural Vessels

In contrast to my tableware, the sculptural vessels metaphorically explore the idea of containment and celebrate form in a pure, academic way, setting aside the considerations of utility. I begin by making singular vessel forms through study and attention to detail. Then I activate the quiet forms with spirited glazing and surface treatments. I employ painting and printing techniques usually associated with two-dimensional mediums. This approach changes the vessels in unexpected ways, diminishing or exaggerating the attributes of volume and containment, creating conversation between the inside of the form and the outside. This conversation, which can be about tension or balance, is a springboard for my ideas.

Inspiration

As a young artist in Los Angeles, I was inspired by the masterful Austrian immigrants Gertrud and Otto Natzler, and I followed the work of L.A. clay artists associated with Chouinard Art School, including Adrian Saxe, Ralph Bacerra, and Elsa Rady. Their well-executed and highly personal vessels gave me license to go beyond the strict, unspoken rules of pottery-making at the time. The study of early 20th -century design, i.e. the Wiener Werkstätte, and the architecture of international modernists such as Le Corbusier, Barrigan, and Neutra, contributed to my modernist approach to form. I have always been interested in a pared-down aesthetic and admire Sol LeWitt and Agnes Martin for their freedom within restraint.

Recently I have been looking to Abstract-Expressionist painters including Rothko, Hofmann, and Frankenthaler for ideas about surface treatments, and I continue to refer to 19th-century Japanese design for direction in the abstraction of natural forms. Inspired by historical pots from all eras, I find the vessel form to be a comforting reminder of warmth and humanity, reflecting history in a tactile way. It is a privilege, as a contemporary person, to participate in this ancient tradition.