Abstract:
In this exhibition I have created a variety of installations based around pottery forms.
Working with the potter’s wheel and a variety of techniques, I create pots that are coated in a
white slip and decorated with hand painted imagery and pattern. This surface provides a canvas
for me to paint imagery that is representative of traditional American tattoos by building up
layers of color and tone with the use of ceramic colorants and washes. The rationale for the
pattern and imagery is to create a sense of subverted normality for the viewer. The patterns
represent rules and order which are experienced through social structures as family, politics, and
religion. The tattooed imagery is the subversive counterpoint to prescribed ideals. The interplay
of imagery and pattern create dynamic surfaces that cooperate with the forms that are intended to
visually engage the viewer. The goal with this project is to discuss and critique the social
structures through which we learn self-identity.
