Rachel Gervais

Saint Clair Shores MI

Breaking Away
Ceramic/Pottery
Artist Statement
Texture to me is meant not only to be looked at, but to be interacted with. As soon as I catch a glimpse of the rough quality there is an immediate reaction for me to feel my way around the object. There is something special about the intimate relationship of holding a cup, bowl, vase, etc. and exploring the nature of it and becoming captivated by it. The endless ways of achieving various textures fascinates me because of different feelings they create on your hands and fingers. The Character from carvings and markings to the application of glaze fascinates me. I tend to glaze very minimally and lightly to have the surfaces and drawings pop out at you. Printmaking has had a large influence on my work. The simplistic carvings on my work convey a striking similarity to woodcut and linoleum cut prints. The process involved in creating the woodcut and linoleum blocks are very similar to process I go through with carving my ceramic work. I find that working with a subtractive rather than additive process is much more rewarding. It takes much more planning out and removing away the excess material with a more cautious eye because once it's gone you can't get it back. Pressing the blocks into the clay produces the positive of what was carved away. There are countless ways to play with the direction and depth of the cuts that allows me to produce a variety of different surfaces.
Past DAM Shows/Exhibitions
2012 Scholarship Exhibition CCS