Pots from the white bread and mayo belt

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.