ReplaI am a multidisciplinary artist based in the Pacific Northwest whose practice spans painting, drawing, and sculpture. My work explores the formal language of artmaking, with a particular interest in how materials and processes function as sites of experimentation, expression, and collaboration. Through these investigations, I seek to cultivate an intuitive and reflective relationship with making.
The work presented here, Ballistic Impressions, is part of a long-term project that examines firearm culture in the United States, including the subcultures, regulations, and legislation that surround it. Using clay as both a surface and a body, I subject ceramic forms to ballistic impact, allowing force, violence, and chance to become embedded within the material.
Each piece is shaped by variables such as firearm type, ammunition, distance, clay weight, form, and clay body. Environmental conditions further influence the outcome, producing unpredictable results. After the initial impact, I return to the studio to carve, clean, and reposition the forms, responding to the damage and transformation created by the shot.
During the bisque firing, remnants of the embedded projectiles oxidize and melt into the clay body, producing unexpected surface effects that resemble low-fire glazes and mineral deposits. The glazing process continues this exploration of chance. Using natural latex balloons filled with glaze and oxide washes, I shoot the balloons at the forms, allowing the force of impact to disperse across their surfaces.
The resulting works occupy a space between destruction and creation, carrying visible traces of collision, residue, and transformation.
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