Though I was born and raised in Atlanta, my childhood memories are most vividly dominated by the landscape of my grandparents’ lives in rural Georgia, where Georgia red clay and green pines colored my world. One of the earliest of these memories is of gleefully making mudpies in my great-grandmother’s backyard. Perhaps that’s where it all began, this love affair with clay. Over the decades, my exploration in clay has ranged from wheel-thrown functional pottery, to conceptual installation art, to its current incarnation in ceramic and mixed-media figurative sculpture and expressive cups.

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Throughout the course of my life, wanderlust, fueled by a curious spirit, has taken me around the world in search of those things that connect us all as humans, as well as those that make each one of us unique. My current figurative work springs from that search, as well a long-standing fascination with puppetry and mask-making global traditions. I use the figure and, in particular, the expressive potential of the face, to explore the complexities, contradictions, and mysteries of our human condition. In the studio I play the role of the alchemist, turning mud into stories, as I attempt to summon life to these made-up characters. I am drawn to the narrative element that the figure brings to sculpture, though I prefer an open-ended narrative that seeks to invite the viewer to find meaning through their own lived experiences.

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Ever since the covid pandemic first tore through the world and drove us all further apart, the need for community and connection have become recurring themes in my recent work. Through my work I want to celebrate the richness and strength of the community of diverse individuals we are and offer hope for healing our troubled world.