This series was stimulated by my involvement with a public arts organization and my participation in an architectural ceramic seminar. As a result, I became increasingly interested in producing a body of work concentrating on the environment. At this time, I was entering graduate
House Series
school and wanted to focus on one theme. My pivotal point of interest was a universal symbol that would be communicative, cross-cultural and panoramic. A great deal of my initial concerns were centered around personal circumstances. At the time these earlier sculptures were created, I was emotionally and physically ill. I retreated into my clay. I sought comfort, warmth, protection, privacy and strength in my medium. As I continued to build these forms, a presence emanated amongst them, an internal volume I call my extra heartbeat/ the image of the house evolved – small-scale temples, each representing my concerns yet introducing their own. Their sources are eclectic – some resemble the adobe house I lived in while in West Africa, others are directly stimulated from my travels to the Orient and my sojourns out West. Still others are multicultural, having many references in one form. For me, these human-scale terracotta sculptures are speaking about kinship, culture, life and living. I share with the viewer, dwellings that have touched and healed me and to experience their presence.
