The working, shaping, glazing and firing of the clay is a purposeful parallel to processes by which decades of life have rendered a personhood carved and consummated by time. Unlike a self portrait that captures a moment, this group seeks to reflect the sum total of the artist’s personal evolution through its depiction of individual iterations of the self, each totem existing as a necessary component of the expressive whole.  As an exposition of the in-progress self, both the finished piece and its creation serve as meditations in vulnerability.

At the deeper core of this sense of vulnerability is the artist’s acknowledgement of distance from the art world as a self-taught septuagenarian and relative newcomer to the field.  Her attention has been on the metaphysical, the Kundalini energy moving through the chakras, the meditations that bring the invisible into the visible realm, and she hopes that through this self-expression in a space missing voices like hers, she might also embolden other overlooked voices to feel worthy.

The Well Tempered totems are made from a range of low fire to high fire white and dark clays, electric, gas, or wood fired with a variety of glazes and stains. Individual totems are 6’-7’ tall, stand on a painted wood base 12” x 12”, and when grouped together are 84” x 24” x 48”.

2024— ‘Sculpture’ National Juried Exhibition Buckham Gallery Flint, MI

2021— ‘Regional Biennial Sculpture Exhibition’ Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Saginaw, MI

2020—’39th Annual Michigan Fine Arts Competition’ Birmingham Bloomfield Arts Center Birmingham, MI

2020—1st place 3D art, ‘Totems’ National Juried Exhibition Beacon Gallery Boston, MA