Artist Statement for The Clay Studio Solo Show – December 2020 “The Usefulness of Use”

Ever since the pandemic began, I’ve been asking myself what I can do and how I can help. As a person, an artist, a potter—do I have anything to offer this world? So much has changed. So many lives have been lost. With no clear light at the end of the tunnel, I kept wondering: how can I be useful?

A mentor once told me that our role as artists is not to provide answers, but to clarify the questions. We may not have solutions, but through our work, we can offer hope, comfort, and solidarity.

Every piece in this exhibition was created during the pandemic. I’m one of the fortunate ones who could continue working from home, while many artists lost access to ceramic studios during the shutdown. As I worked in my basement, I noticed my pieces shrinking—physically and emotionally—mirroring the contraction of my world. Holding onto the symbolic idea of function helped me resist that reduction. It gave my mind structure and purpose. In this body of work, function becomes the vehicle for emotion.

This exhibition is my attempt to stay connected—to explore how I and my work might be useful in different ways. Between storytelling and utility, I oscillated: sometimes recording the emotions of the day, sometimes learning from history and how we repeat ourselves. I swung back and forth, searching for meaning in the making.