Neither: defeated and defiant 

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Self, 5.4' x 1.5' x 1.5', unfired clay, water 

Κολυμπήθρα (baptismal font), 2.1' x 2' x 2', stoneware clay, glaze, johnny ring

Λουτροφόρος (wedding and funeral water amphora), 2.3' x 11" x 11", stoneware clay, glaze, water 

Stepping stool, 12" x 10" x 8" 

 

Neither: defeated and defiant is one of three projects that make up my undergraduate thesis. In this work, I try to accept the instability of living in Boston, a place that is not only foreign but also temporary. I long to lay down roots but know that for the next decade I will have to live transiently. The amphora, standing at my exact height represents my body, the container of my soul and in this case, the container of water.  Once filled with the water, the unfired clay erodes and slowly collapses; I cannot be bound to this vessel, this vessel fails to hold me.

 

While the clay dissolves it becomes one with the water. Clay and water transform into a new whole entity, rejecting boundaries, or expectations of permanence. I embrace and honor my new self; in my failure to be contained, in my strength to transform, unbound.