the surround

Since working in the studio… I’ve changed my concept and have been working pretty steadily on my queen. I forgot how fragile clay can be… i’ve been working really hard to fully understand and concur traditional materials(clay and steel), and its a lot harder than I ever thought possible. Been running into some technical issues, throwing/drying/cracking, that have been good learning experiences.

After reading the eight by Katherine Neville I’ve been thinking a lot about chess and the rules of a ‘game’. I love the order and intensity of chess but also it is curious how a game (fun?) has so many rules and is so serious. Specifically the queen, which doesn’t have any power in real life/mid-evil times because shes a woman, but in chess the queen has the most power because she can move anywhere. Also in thinking about what’s next for my 2^nd project, I was thinking about making more chess pieces and how the two could relate, which has prompted thinking about relationships and how I relate to others and how I view other’s relationships.

One of my favorite visual memories is from a day my ceramics class spent in Wilmington scouting out places for a gorilla art project. We came across this park by the Wilmington petting zoo and these old train tracks that have become over grown by nature. It really struck me because i love the idea of nature taking back what is her’s also I find old forgotten places really fascinating because they have so much history, and I love to make up stories about how the place was before it looks how I found it.