FLOWSTATE: Exhibition at the Tidal Gallery in Eureka, CA. Dec 6th – Feb 4th 2026

Exhibition photo credit: Jenny Morris at Vatacreative @vatacreative

Artist Statement

My most recent body of work, one I’ve been composing for a year and a half is centered around abstract ceramic stacked objects. This series, titled Trophies, is a slow accumulation of forms. I cultivate an idea and methodically feed it, drawing from the shapes and structures that surround me. Each element carries its own glaze, firing process, or clay body, creating layered relationships that shift between compositional formats. Approaching clay as a whole material, and using firing methods from low to high within a single sculptural form, I ask how sculpture can unify and include divergent processes, exponentially expanding my opportunities for aesthetic language.

Spontaneity is central to my practice. I create structures that invite experimentation, trial and error, and unexpected contrasts of surface and silhouette. I use form as my language of expression, just as a poet uses words or a musician uses sound.

I am drawn to clay for its geologic resonance, working with it feels like making new rocks, echoing the earth’s own cycles of transformation. Its malleability allows for immediacy, while its history ties me to centuries of makers and experiments. I see myself as part of that lineage, benefiting from discoveries that came before while adding my own to the continuum.

As these trophies come together, they shape a story and stand as dedications to the inglorious victories of daily life, the mundane, the tedious, and the darker moments that also define me. These pieces mark a new direction in my work, each composition both a record of process and a monument to persistence.

Burnham 2025