Eclipse I, Eclipse II, & Eclipse III, 2024

Colored Porcelain

Eclipse I, II, and III was created and installed in 2024. To craft my wall installations, each tile form is made by utilizing a process called slipcasting. In this process, liquid clay, called slip, is poured into handmade plaster molds for a duration of time. The plaster wicks away the water in the liquid clay leaving a shell that thickens over time. After 15 minutes, the remaining clay slip is poured out leaving a thin shell that hardens and then dries as it awaits to be fired in the kiln. 

With these pieces, the tile forms are made from colored porcelain slip. Each vertical row represents a different combination of colored pigments to create a seamless transition from orange, yellow, green, and then blue. The methodical planning and calming repetitive process of creating these works lends itself to the meditative experience of seeing the pieces in person. At first glance, one may be captivated by the rows of shifting color, however the longer one views the work the more they are rewarded because layers and depth of each wall piece reveal themselves over time. The curved spine of the forms, akin to a mobius strip, presents subtle movement to keep your eye wandering and the shadows cast on the forms and the wall create an experience of depth that causes an optical illusion, calling into question the depth of the work and how it exists of the flat plane of the wall.

Creating these pieces coincided with the first time I experienced seeing a solar eclipse and I thought it was fitting to name the pieces after that experience. It was a life changing moment that filled me with wonder, stillness, and curiosity.