Before the Fork, 2016
Often a body of work originates from something whimsical or unexpected that happens in the studio. Sometime around 2010 one of my students made a Raku Taco. I thought a ceramic taco was hilarious, so the students and I started making molds of dozens of various food items, and creating compositions that emulated real plates of food.
Eventually I started using the molds of food items to create fantastical creatures; I called these monsters my 'Reject GMO's.' Again, the first pieces were motivated by sheer whimsy and a desire for humor, but eventually I began to discover that this work was exploring very serious issues.
I am very concerned about what is happening with our food -- how we farm, how we develop new foods, how we process foods, the things we add to our food, what this food is doing to our bodies, and the types of human behaviors that have developed with the contemporary food culture.