ARTIST STATEMENT
I use the female body as a vehicle to convey the inner dimensions of our psyche. I see the sacredness in its curvy lines and voluptuous body, and it is my attempt at expressing the female spirituality and her life force in the world.
I am not interested in the accurate depiction of the human anatomy, but instead I show meaning and emotion in the subject by the twisting, bending, and cutting off parts of the body. Most of my sculptures have peaceful and gentle facial expressions even though their bodies sometimes suggest struggle and agony - implying that pain and suffering can’t take away grace.
I respect the Zen Buddhism concept of transience: “Ichi-go ichi-e” which translates as “for this time only”, “never again”, or “one chance in a lifetime”. So I apply those principles to my work which makes my sculptures one-of-a-kind.
Making sculptures in clay has opened the door to creating my work in a more intuitive way. I often sketch a subject without caring about the details and then I start constructing the body from the bottom up using slabs of clay. While holding the overall shape in my mind, I add more slabs and continue working upward while smoothing out each of the connected parts. I push and bend the wall of the body both from the front and behind; the clay’s plasticity allows my hands and my subconscious to form a dialogue until I see an ideal shape which translates my deeper meaning and intentions into the language of sculpture.