About

IMG_2041.jpg

My ceramic wall art is about energy.  Whether focused in a single form, or gathered in a grouped composition, the works embody my belief that what surrounds us and our lives is the constant swirl, flow and transfer of energies. While some convey movement and others exude stillness, in all my pieces, I try to encapsulate a force of life and spirit.

I’m curious about the evocative nature of shapes, colors, surfaces, and the poetic power of compositions. I love paintings, especially abstract ones that don’t seemingly have any message, yet quietly, deeply move my core – there’s a purity to looking at things on a wall. You just look.  And have a moment. Of pause. Of thought. Of connection. Of a sense of fullness.

Art and beauty have always been and continue to be elemental and essential in our lives. As a medium, clay is often associated with functionality and utilitarianism, and I use clay to make works for the walls to look at and live with, in the belief that art is necessary to the balance of life, and serves a function of nourishing our inner lives and souls.

I gravitate towards abstraction for universal reach and reduction for clarity, and use basic ceramic processes and techniques.  Works are made from rolled out slabs of light colored earthenware clay, fired in an electric kiln and finished with kaolin terrasigillata, slips, and commercial glazes.

I was born and raised in New York and have a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia College, Columbia University, a BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and an MFA from Hunter College, City University of New York. I spent a year in Japan on a Fulbright exploring the world of Japanese ceramics while focusing on the avant-garde ceramic group, Sōdeisha, and its founder, Yagi Kazuo.

I have two college aged sons (who taught me that children and clay are uncannily similar - both are intensely time sensitive, require focused commitment, attention, and care, are moldable but only to a certain extent), and work in a studio in Long Island City, Queens, shared with my favorite artist husband Zilvinas Kempinas.

IMG_2179.jpg

Inspirations

I’m inspired by NATURE for its resilient and generous offerings of beauty, NON-HUMAN LIVING CREATURES for its instinct to survive and never complain, and COMPETITIVE SPORTS for its ability to let players and viewers fiercely focus on a pure moment.