I’ve been debating to post the thoughts behind my design “Mountains meet Water”, but here is what I wrote pre-pandemic, in 2019. It still feels true, and I haven’t come up with a better way to talk about it, and have continued to think deeply about community and connections.
The stripes below the mountains represent water. I am drawn to the moment when the towering majesty of the mountains meets the flowing power of the water. This intersection is a powerful and beautiful reminder of the interconnectedness of all things, and the ways in which the land and the natural world are intertwined.
The theme of my work strives to recognize the land I now reside through the construction of my identity. Born and currently living on treaty seven territory, I am a privileged, third-generation settler from Western and Eastern Europe. As I transitioned through various Eurocentric identities, I felt a disconnect to the patriarchy, colonial culture, and the anthropocentric values imposed.
I use ceramics as a way to connect my experiences and explore the intersection between personal identity and the land. Through the process of creating, I seek to capture the land around me and re-create my memories of the present moment in the form of ceramic functional and sculptural pieces.
The feeling of a loss of connection to my ancestors, their spiritual roots and physical places, influenced my investigation into my identity. Through mindful exploration, I find grounding in deep time, ‘re-membering’ myself as an anthropocosmic being, and appreciating the land I inhabit. Utilising craft as my connection, I create work that captures my perceived phenomenological experiences of time, spirituality and land. Made with love and imagination, my art attempts to deal directly with these concepts of identity I can’t get to otherwise.
I am drawn to the moment when the towering majesty of the mountains meets the power of the water. This intersection is a powerful and beautiful reminder of the interconnectedness of all things, this pitcher embraces mountains on a snowy day.
Looking to find truth, I found consolation when exploring my ancestors by encompassing the investigation through the Universal (Big) History of deep time. History is important as it influences my foundation moving forward. I ground myself through extensiveness of deep time as it is a scale that my human lifetime can’t touch. Opening my heart to new spaces and voices, I strive to embrace a multiplicity of knowledge based on truths instead of misrepresentations. The work I create recognizes deep time as a connection to the land I reside and its history through the grounding of mountains standing tall with vast space of future possibility above. Mindful of appropriation and those who have come before me, I choose clay as a medium to appreciate those of all cultures who have used ceramics to communicate narratives.
I strive to challenge the dominant anthropocentric perspective and to promote an understanding of the world that is inclusive and holistic. By exploring the interconnectedness of humans, the natural world, and the universe, my work seeks to promote a sense of belonging and connection to the land and to one another. Through the use of imagery such as water flowing amongst mountains, and the inclusion of semi-precious stones, I seek to demonstrate the beauty and power of the natural world, and the ways in which it can inspire and inform our understanding of the world around us.
Anthropocentrism has led humans to the exploitation of nature and destruction of the environment through placing humans as the centre of all value, subsequently marginalizing earth for human consumption of resources. Understanding that we are not separate from the Universe and believing in inclusive humanism, my work interweaves connections to Anthromocosmic environmental ethics by capturing the land around me and re-creating my memory of the here-now into ceramic functional and sculptural forms. As I practice re-membering the undeniable humanistic need to become a member of community, land and connection to a greater collective, my work equivalates the intertwining of human and the earth through the water flowing amongst rocks demonstrating meaning and value emerging from an intimate vision of the world as a complex and flowing whole.
Overall, my work is an exploration of the connections between personal identity, history, and the land, and the ways in which our connection to the land can help us to understand and connect with our ancestors and the spiritual world. Through the use of ceramic forms and a focus on deep time and inclusive humanism, I seek to create works that are grounded in the land and its history, and that offer a glimpse into the beauty and majesty of the natural world
The land I choose to live on is a large part of my identity. Banff National Park is Canada's first and most visited National Park. The land is managed through Governments that have good intentions to be world leaders in improving environmental and ecological conditions. They endeavour to empower Anthropos earth stewardship through conservation, recovery and educating worldwide visitors. Educating those who visit the National Park builds an intimate relationship connecting all to a sustainable way of living and holds all those with knowledge accountable for the future. With a reverence for nature, the work I create hopes to encapsulate these connections, depicting the marks of mountains and water within the land. Now is the time that we as a society together we are going to have to come to terms with our own identities and question what kind of world do we want to live in?
