Reverence
I am interested in the idea of the endangered craftsman and the necessary skillsets required of using hand tools. When I use tools, they become extensions of my hands while continuing their legacy. My work is both a nostalgic look at the past, while also exhibiting how craft is used today.
By pressing antique tools into the clay, I am making a fossil record, a memory of the physical object. Slip-casting these same tools creates a facsimile of a tool, as by definition, a tool is a devise for doing work. As a result of recreating it from clay, I deny its function, thus limiting it as merely a devise for contemplation.
Through constructing environments for these objects, I strive to convey a sense of endearment and value; thus contradicting and transcending the inherent properties of the tool. This approach provides the viewer a context in which I illustrate my connections to tools, their history and the craftsman.
