I love art because it lets me represent my lived experience into a tangible form. I’m able to bring parts of myself and others together.
You decide who will appear in Artforum Magazine, take home $25,000, and display their work at The Art of Elysium's Salon!
My favorite type of art to create is terracotta vessels ranging from 21 to 64 inches. I create vessels as stand-ins for myself and my lived experiences: holding memory, history, pressure, and resilience. They are my refusal to be overlooked and ignored in a male dominated field. Working large, throwing big, and combining pieces into tall forms. They are intentionally monumental; their scale is their testament.
Where do you find inspiration?I played a lot of chess with my father growing up I’ve always been drawn to the pieces forms. A lot of my recent work resembles that, like chess my pieces are made to feel strategic and ceremonial, embodying strength, ambition, and tension between defensiveness and offensiveness. I’m drawn to this contradiction: beauty paired with threat, softness paired with force. Material used is intentional paying homage to my mother and her heritage.
What would you do with $25,000?I would like to create a safe space ceramic studio where artist came come and create. No judgment , no education or prior knowledge required. I want to make ceramics accessible to more people.
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