Murray State's Digital Commons

Collection Title

Personal Touch

Author/Artist Name

shanice RossFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Senior

Date of Creation

Spring 3-30-2018

Artist Statement

I am very interest in the idea of the body in my work. I’m attracted to the idea that the body is more than just a vessel that we exist in. The way we see ourselves, the way the world sees us, and the way we are told to see the world. It’s all about how we connect to people and the unpredictability of the lives that we live. Each day that life could be taken and that moment of fleeting unsureness peaks my interest. My work focuses on what we have been conditioned to believe about body image and they hand we are dealt with. I aim to challenge the viewer to embrace their own body and every flaw or perfection we have that makes each of us different. I feel that the ability to make something out of nothing and share a piece of you with someone else is a rare moment of vulnerability.

I work mainly in ceramics as a functional/conceptual potter. I enjoy making little clay figurines that emulates the idea of body issue. I think the female body is exceptionally beautiful.The softness of the curves and the long lines of the female body are things that I am interested in and can incorporate into ceramics. A lot of my art has faceless figures so that the subject of the piece is someone that could be anyone or all of us. I feel that this connects the viewer to my art and makes them think deeper about themselves. I’m attracted to very round and curved lines that to me represent a sort of softer quality of humanity, but then I challenge this softness with the harsh realities of life.

My functional work focuses more on how the viewer interacts with my pieces. The relationship between the hand and the mug or bowl to me directly relates to a handshake or an embrace. It’s about the physical interactions that we as people need to be thriving members of society that fuels my functional work. I can have this very personal connection between me the artist and the viewer/receiver because at some point I am physically touching and handling the clay. Then translate that to when the viewer is holding the work there is this almost intimate interaction as if a friend was comforting another. All of this, figurines and functional work, relates back to the unpredictable vulnerability that we as people have in the connections we make.

Advisor/Mentor

John Utgaard

Description

ceramic figures 4" stoneware- multiple glazes

mugs, cups, bowls, plates- stoneware- mulitple sizes- mulpiple glazes

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Ross, shanice, "Personal Touch" (2018). B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499). 15.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art499/15