Lauren Collier

CERAMICS

In my thesis work, I have been utilizing traditional forms and methods of making pottery to create nontraditional ceramic installations. Trained in functional pottery, my experience forming ceramic objects on the wheel now allows me to produce pieces on a larger scale, which become canvases through which I explore my personal experiences of grief and loss.

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My interest in understanding grief, the fragility and unreliability of memory, and how the brain adapts to make sense of these experiences are central themes in this body of work. When grieving, the brain creates networks and pathways that become reinforced the more we revisit them. Spanning entire walls, my ceramic pieces act as visual manifestations of the rumination and circular thinking that loss has trapped me in.

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From start to finish, the process of working with clay is physically and materially demanding. In both forming and firing, clay is under immense stress. Clay has a memory it does not easily forget, as every mark made on its surface can reappear, even when thought to be healed over. Pottery has the unique ability to connect people through its utility and beauty, while also embodying this meditation on memory.