Master's Project, Staffordshire University

I have always been drawn to contrast in my work- two opposite elements working together harmoniously within a piece. Currently I am exploring what really has been an age old struggle: digital vs analog. The idea of “man vs machine” is not a new concept, since mankind has been evolving, each new wave of technology has brought fear that the machines will replace us in production; and while many machines do just that, they are not sentient (yet) and bring on a different relationship of maintenance and programming. They are simply new tools to use, and in my exploration into the world of digital printing with clay, it has especially shown that my human element is what creates the art, and it is my determination and creativity that drives the process.

I’m inspired by the human form, specifically the more voluptuous female form, as seen in ancient mother earth statues like the Venus de Willendorf and the paintings of the baroque and romanticism eras. I want to take those inspirations into the forms and curves of my digitally modelled pieces, to keep a softness and not lose the human touch into the digital world. Using my own body type as reference, this almost became a love letter to myself, seeing the beauty in the soft curves of the belly, in the body rolls, and the hips dips; and to truly see myself within the art. There is something so satisfying in seeing these soft, organic forms come from such a rigid process. Clay is a medium that longs to be touched, to be handled, and working in this way takes a lot of that handling out, and it is that balancing act that I find most intriguing.