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Dubhe Carreño Gallery Contemporary Ceramic Art |
Thomas Schmidt
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Artist’s Statement
As a ceramicist, my art is driven by the sense of discovery that develops as I engage in an ongoing investigation of the material. In this way, I create processes that deconstruct the clay object through atmospheric change and pressure, thereby pushing the material into unstable states. After these processes, I am left with the residue of this physical tension: fractured remnants of clay, with which I create arrangements and compositions. Thus, these pieces balance the chance inherent in nature with the control of human interplay. My exploration of change is often driven by textures, and the way the textures of clay, like geological textures, describe the imprints of forces over time. For instance, when wet clay is poured, dried, and pulled apart, the platelets of clay reveal the path taken by the fluid clay, and once fired, the ceramic object becomes a record of this journey; a site of change. In some of my recent work I use sound to further articulate this journey. Sound, as a time based medium, can capture change in a way that complements the static object. Through these textures, both tactile and auditory, I seek to express elements of corrosion and fragility, as well as both the formative and destructive forces that exist all around us, and perhaps within our own lives. This question of how this process relates to the human experience continues to compel me, and ultimately I hope for the manipulation and examination of clay to step beyond a study of materials, into an exploration of one’s existence in nature. |