Last day to check out these guys at Design Miami/Podium, “America(s)” . . . In this group of work, I was interested in exploring the American West and California. I used texture and color to evoke an emotional response to the catastrophes occurring in California, the western U.S., and America at large. The matte black surface resembles a charred landscape after a destructive wildfire. The remaining debris left afterwards often takes on otherworldly properties. I try to imbue my black surface with with some alchemy of minerals and nature and disaster, reflecting back the interrelation of different elements used during the ceramic process. The punctured “holes” that mar the surface and give the shape texture evoke the “Wild West” of myth. Bullet ridden cans are not uncommon detritus around California rural landscapes and old ghost towns. I’m interested in showing the violence of the bullet/puncture mark on the surface, how the physical act literally rips off the surface and creates a new shape and surface. The quantity of the holes in the vessels reflects the omnipresent fact of gun violence in our culture, from the mythic Wild West to today.