My objects are made using mass-produced plastic rocks that are used in yards to hide gas and electrical objects. These fake rocks are the positive objects that I made plaster molds to slip cast in porcelain clay. The porcelain is fired to cone ten using traditional glazes and the glaze on these rocks is a Carbon Trap Shino. I have also used advanced technology to create the pedestals from plywood, reminiscent of tree rings, soil samples, and structural geology alluding to the striations in the landscape. The intent is to restore the fake rocks back into their original geological material creating an installation of this faux-real, land/rock-scape. Conceptually, I am commenting on our mass cultural production’s mimicry of nature with materials that are cheap fake junk, which will one day reside in landfills. Ironically, replacing plastic with ceramics returns the forms to a beautiful state. 

The “Gibberish Series” intent is to circumvent overburdened themes such as environmentalism, in favor of a non-linear, fantastical position. With this work, I call attention to less evident aspects of the relationships between people and the natural world, including intellectual, psychological, and numinous facets of this symbiosis. I investigate real and imagined qualities of materials, particularly clay, allowing the material to speak for itself as opposed to employing materials to serve as clues for narrative.