These hand-pinched forms each tell a story of emergence, fragility, and a will to thrive. This exhibition, Everlasting Exuberance, is my celebration in porcelain of life’s love to live.
In 2013, I began cancer treatment here at the University of Michigan hospital. Treatment went well, and I am now in good health. A lot changed for me during that time, and I had to rediscover my path in life. Consequently, my enthusiasm for art was set aside, and I was afraid that I’d lost it. At last, after several years, art making has reentered my life with reckless exuberance. This is why I am overjoyed to be able to share this new body of work here.
Because of the fragility of unfired clay, I lose a lot of pieces before they can get to the kiln. At times, it can feel difficult to start a piece all over, but if I lose my attention or rush, there is no choice, the work cannot be made. Each step in the process is an exercise in intimacy with the material and the ceramic process. Through this work, I’ve begun to learn the benefits of maintaining an intimate connection to what I am doing, both in art making and in living.
