What if we lived in a world where the objects we interact with serve as a warning for the destruction we sow? Where these objects do not fulfill a utilitarian purpose, but are designed as a caution of the unspoken terror we choose to ignore?
Throughout my work, function serves as a representation of humanity’s societal progression and how our acceleration has affected the natural world. By decorating my work with small but striking consequences of human activities, I bring this butterfly effect to the table. I adorn dish sets with the visualizations of anthropogenic activities I have encountered and witnessed in Cincinnati. From burrows on ash trees by the emerald ash borer beetle, and dying bumblebee populations, to the skeletons of animals disproportionately affected by human settlements, and glazes visualizing oil spills.
Don’t Get Too Comfortable references the Mill Creek Watershed to connect the familiar with the global, analyzing how the places I grew up are linked to nature’s adaptations of invasion to survive. Each piece is covered in bubbling, cracking, and oozing glazes. I set the dinner table with these toxic wares as an invitation to make tangible that which we seek to turn a blind eye to. Through this process, the work becomes a warning; a manifestation of the natural world, poisoned by human acceleration.
