Why I Pot :)

I am a Queer, Jewish, multidisciplinary artist living with OCD and ADHD who’s main mediums include ceramics, fiber art, illustration and photography. Though I delve into many different types of expressions, the connection and passion I have for ceramics is unmatchable, I’ve been playing with clay since I was 6 years old and nothing has ever compared. Pottery has always been an avenue to visualize my life in a way that makes sense to me. Through tactile art in the form of portraiture/semi-blind contour drawings and ceramic wares, I attempt to soothe the turbulent nature of my mind. My greatest joy is being able to create and share these pieces of my heart.

I focus mainly on tedious and intricate detailing in my work to symbolize my stipulations and tethers with OCD. In addition to a focus on technicality, the serenity that lies in the unknown, and the magic that arises through fluidity is something that compels me. I like to challenge myself with testing the waters of uncertainty as a form of exposure therapy to fight the compulsive need for control that lies within me. Clay is such an uncertain material and in turn has helped me learn over the years that life is imperfectly perfect and there is an immense amount of beauty to be found in giving into that.

By repainting these contours onto clay of people I once admired or loved, then lost, I can reclaim myself within those experiences. I dig those memories up and put them all in my work. I constantly re-experience hasty memories via intrusive thoughts ruminating in my mind, which causes me to shut down and feel stuck. The process of transferring those circumstantially charged emotions from my brain to the physical realm is where and when I regain my sense of self, finally understanding its relevance. Channeling floating musings into a physical being that I can feel, smell, see, helps me to finally understand its existence. Holding that piece in my hand I can contextualize how I am separate from my experiences and it can be time for them to stop consuming me. It is also when I am able to once again be reminded that one of the things I love the most about myself is that I feel so much.

Creation is a tool used to ground and make sense of the world around me by making the abstract tangible, every piece is a portrait of extreme emotion, and the final piece, a birth of that struggle and passion.

Reimagining abstractions of my past and current loved ones helps me to process and honor the thoughts that circulate about in my brain, giving them a voice that I can understand. Creating helps me channel my emotions in attempt to heal from the lingering affects trauma has had in my life, while also providing an anchor to counteract dissociation. my art is a visual reminder of the notion that I must not ever forget that I exist, to hold space for myself, and to grant myself compassion in my healing process.