91PORN

Artist Statement

As a human, my purpose on this earth is to confront the uncomfortable. My purpose as an artist is to explore both personal and collective trauma while challenging societal narratives around struggle, resilience, and memory. It is easy to walk through life complacent, ignorant of what exists beneath the cover of safety. When we confront our experiences and reflect on the experiences of others, compassion overtakes and begins to dismantle our self-centered lens of the world. Through the use of ceramics and other disciplinary materials, sculpture facets the unique ability to bring a story to life.

Growing up in the Jewish community in Chicago, alongside enduring unique and complicated experiences throughout my youth, this lens was widened at a young age. My work explores the complexities of identity and trauma, challenging memory as I examine themes of entrapment, survival, and transformation—drawing from my own experiences as well as the communities I belong to.

I find a tangible language for the intangible. Clay, like the body, holds memory—it cracks, erodes, and endures. My process mirrors this cycle, embracing imperfection and change. The fire that hardens the clay is the same fire that consumes, leaving behind only what can withstand the heat. My work exists in that liminal space, between fragility and permanence, between destruction and survival. My practice is intuitive, driven by an urgency to create rather than rigid planning. I am drawn to large-scale forms and textural surfaces, using scale as a tool to demand attention and provoke engagement. I incorporate ceramics with materials like wood and metal to challenge the traditional expectations of the medium while emphasizing its duality.

To create is to weather the storm and emerge, changed but standing. My sculptures are markers of survival, reflections of endurance, and reminders that even in loss, something new can take shape. The discomfort in my work urges viewers to step outside of their own experiences and into the realities of others’, inspiring communication and social change to foster a space where others feel seen, understood, and compelled to reflect. My practice serves as both a form of personal healing and a catalyst for broader conversations on trauma, identity, and collective experience.