Masks and Vessels

Masks and Vessels is among the artist’s earliest bodies of work, made before Pink Matter, in bare terracotta and white glaze that let the forms speak for themselves. Masks and vessels are some of the most ancient things humans make, born of the need to see ourselves and each other and to hold what we need to live, like water and valuables; placing faces on a vessel turns it into something precious and personal. The features are drawn from memory: the artist’s own Roman nose, descending straight from the forehead, alongside the eyes, lips, and ears of friends and family. Rearranged as the subconscious recalls them, these features spill around the forms in unexpected places, with ears where eyes should be, profiles facing away from each other, and openings rimmed in cobalt blue.

The result is nonsensical but meaningful, a record of the faces that have shaped a life.Masks and Vessels is among the artist’s earliest bodies of work, made before Pink Matter, in bare terracotta and white glaze that let the forms speak for themselves. Masks and vessels are some of the most ancient things humans make, born of the need to see ourselves and each other and to hold what we need to live, like water and valuables; placing faces on a vessel turns it into something precious and personal. The features are drawn from memory: the artist’s own Roman nose, descending straight from the forehead, alongside the eyes, lips, and ears of friends and family. Rearranged as the subconscious recalls them, these features spill around the forms in unexpected places, with ears where eyes should be, profiles facing away from each other, and openings rimmed in cobalt blue. The result is nonsensical but meaningful, a record of the faces that have shaped a life.