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Artist
Statement
Coming from an area abundant in clay
and raised by parents who left their family's farm, it was not a real stretch to
find myself addicted to clay at the first touch. Now, I live and work at
Snow Lake Shores where clay has formed and is forming even now. My
work has always been inspired by the transitions of the land around me.
When I walk, I find myself looking at the ground more than anywhere else.
Erosion, animal tracks, growing things, flowers, strata of clay beds, pathways, tree
roots; it's all there on the ground to be read and translated. I
walk in the forest everyday with my dog, Sam, before I go into
my studio. The forest is where I find my center, a must before working.
Subscribing to Joseph Campbell's idea that, "the material of myth is the
material of our life, the material of our body, and the material of our
environment," I try to create physical representations of my search for a
personal mythology derived from conscious and unconscious responses to my life,
my body and my environment. At present, my work is focused on images
of various flowers. All of life can be symbolized by the life of a
flower. It emerges first from its mother plant, then it becomes a
bud. The bud unfolds to a magnificent flower. The environment plays
a large part in the quality and length of the life of the flower but even as it
wilts it has its own beauty and history to tell.
Clay and stone offer a world of possibilities for creation. With
stone, one starts with a chunk of marble, limestone, alabaster, etc., take a chisel
and make a few taps, and I know what is inside waiting for release. The
process is long and arduous as I use the old fashion method of mallet and
chisel. Stone
has the advantage of being finished when the carving process is over.
There are no colors to decide on, no kiln firing; just file, sand, wax, and buff
and it's done.
Clay offers more of a challenge and requires more inspiration knowing that
something has to be created from start to finish. When I work with clay, I
make everything thick and heavy, then I carve away the parts that aren't
necessary. The subtractive method works best for me. Because of the
differences in thickness throughout each piece, drying time can be
extensive. The carving is what I enjoy the most. That is where the
intimacy of each piece begins and ends for me. When I am finished carving,
I am looking for the next piece ready to be carved and I could truly stop at
this stage but then nothing would ever get finished.
I see the Earth as a beautiful creation of God that is still in the process
of its evolution. As I evolve with the earth around me, so does my work. I only hope that my
creations capture some of the beauty
that surrounds each of us everyday.
In Memory of Jax, my beloved cat.
Died November 7, 2006.
He loved to walk with Sam and I.
Copyright 2007 Denise Brown.
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