Artist Statement

Following 25 years in academia, I now work as a ceramic sculptor, exploring post-anthropocentric futures through forms that imagine intelligence beyond human consciousness. My practice is informed by paleobotanical research, fossil studies, and microscopic documentation of slime mold communication networks.

Each sculpture begins with iterative drawings, where I translate the branching patterns of extinct ferns and cellular structures of prehistoric organisms into three-dimensional forms. These studies, combined with observations of slime mold networks, inform sculptures that blur boundaries between past and future, organic and geological. The resulting forms—with their bulbous nodes and reaching appendages—mirror the ways these organisms pulse and branch in search of nutrients, their intelligence embodied in pure form rather than centralized consciousness.

My process emphasizes material consciousness. I mix my own glazes, understanding their chemistry as both technique and conceptual framework. The origins of my clay matter—I consider how mining and industrial processes shape the materials I work with and the discipline I work within, making this awareness integral to my practice. Each firing becomes a collaboration with elemental forces, where heat transforms intention into form.

The finished works suggest entities that have evolved beyond familiar categories. Their smooth, pod-like bodies and enigmatic apertures hint at sensory organs we cannot comprehend, while their extensions reach toward forms of connection that transcend individual boundaries. Some pieces cradle space like ancient offering bowls, their openings suggesting both vulnerability and receptivity, while others interlock or reach toward each other, embodying networked intelligence.

These sculptures invite viewers to consider alternative forms of consciousness—perhaps resembling mycorrhizal communication systems or the patient processes of geological formation. Through clay, I give form to speculative beings that feel both ancient and prophetic, suggesting that the earth has always been alive with agencies we are only beginning to understand.