Tension and Rest

In my work I seek to capture elements of time and change. I am interested in exploring the limits of a material, and to waver along the precarious boundary between stability and instability.  For “Tension and Rest” I set up a situation where the material responds to atmospheric change, rather than to my touch.  This piece is slip-cast from a mold of a perfect cube. I cast the cube solid, allowing the slip to settle into the mold over the course of weeks. Like the rings of a tree-trunk, the ripples on the interior of the cube reveal the passage of time, as the slip gradually sinks into the mold. While firing, the piece cracks into many fragments, however, I fire to the point where the cracks begins to fuse together, returning the cube into a solid state.