I Had a Dream

Artist statement

This ceramic vessel was created using a Japanese-inspired smoke-firing process related to saggar firing. The form was placed inside a container with paper and combustible materials during the firing process, allowing smoke, heat, and ash to mark the surface of the clay. Rather than applying imagery only through paint or glaze, the decoration emerges from the firing itself, making the process an active part of the final work.

The dark silhouettes of branches, birds, and natural forms create a quiet, atmospheric surface that feels both delicate and aged. The crackled texture gives the piece a sense of history, fragility, and transformation, as if the vessel has absorbed traces of fire, smoke, and memory. The contrast between the pale ceramic body and the dark organic imagery suggests the relationship between nature and shadow, presence and absence, permanence and change.