Artist Statement
I’ve always enjoyed the fun side of Pareidolia - the recognition of faces in inanimate objects. A simple dot dot dash face gives enough visual information to come up with a whole backstory to a character. Some simple strokes make us understand the mood of a face and in connection with the body shape, colors and proportions we can’t help but emphasize with the creature. My figurines play with the japanese theme of being Kawaii. Creating connection and empathy by being charming, vulnerable, shy, and childlike. I’m fascinated by the feeling of cute aggression, or playful aggression, that gets triggered by seeing something so cute that you want to pinch or smash it. Maybe that’s why I am drawn to push their bodies into Surrealism and over exaggeration. I’ve only just begun to work with ceramics but in the next step I want to combine my simple appealing shapes and faces with more organic, flowing clay parts to create an interesting tension between clean and organic, cute and fleshy. I’d like to „mutate“ them to show more of their internal life. Exploring body image and the „feeling“ of having a body. Feeling deflated, melted, torn or smashed. Being a blob navigating the world. Still with a cute smile though.
