Short Stories

Dolls have opposing symbolism. On one end, they are a haunting reminder of women’s lack of autonomy, but on the other, they can represent a little life, what lies buried in humans that is numinous and wise. I make hand-built ceramic sculptures reminiscent of my experiences and life as a girl and woman.  My work endeavors to express the conflicting emotions and understandings that come from existing as a girl. Throughout this body of work, dolls are used to drive the narratives. Using the doll, hyper-feminine references, various colors, pattern(s), forms, textures, and imagery, Short Stories creates a visual diary showcasing narratives deriving from personal experiences, observations, and feminist literature such as the works by Gina Berriult, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Sandra Cisneros. These ideas come together in my sculptures, creating a story of feminine understanding.

Using terra cotta to construct the dolls instead of the traditional porcelain reframes the narrative that girls and women must be pure and untouched. Instead, it is a more accurate visual representation of the trials of a woman’s life. I utilize terra cotta clay for its rich mineral content to signify accumulation both physically and abstractly. When hand-building my pieces, I squeeze, pinch, and pull the clay performing pain-inflicting actions upon the media to create visibly tactile narratives symbolic of life. 

  “Kitschy” imagery, references to fibers, as well as domestic settings are used to underline my distaste for the extensive history of gender inequality and the disregard for the accomplishments of women and to confront the viewer’s reactions to art that embraces what is known as “women’s work.” Home is a recurring theme throughout this body of work to highlight the often parasitic relationship between women and their homes. It is a relationship that changes throughout a woman's life and is nuanced with pain and pleasure.  The illustrative elements in my work are sketchy and loose, showcasing the reality that women’s real-life selves are nothing more than a sketch, the debased iteration of something purer and more precious that society has demanded women to attempt to be.