gateway

Gatlinburg, TN | 2013

porcelain, dimensions variable

The gateway project is a record of my time living in Gatlinburg, Tennessee as an artist-in-residence at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Situated at the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg is referred to as "the gateway to the Smokies." My house is exactly one mile from the entrance to the national park, but that mile of road is a gauntlet which we refer to as "the strip," a sort of permanent carnival of neon signs, air brushed t-shirts, fudge, moonshine, fried food, mini golf, and a whole host of Ripley's attractions. As I wander through the national park and down the strip, I observe and document what I see--the texture on the wings of a moth, a curled up centipede, the pattern of a drainage grate, a man hole cover, etc. Then, back in the studio, I embed this information in the surfaces of my porcelain forms, buried underneath an outer layer of pure white slip. Before the firing, I strip away portions of this exterior layer, revealing the history that lies beneath. Once cast and fired, I install the objects in various locations, inviting people to re-experience these places by walking through the gateway I have created and observing the information gathered from these environments, now encapsulated in the porcelain.

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