I am often chasing contentment in quantities, in knowing I have spares, having extras in case of emergency. I enjoy the act of amassing, of collecting, gathering stock and reserves. For me, there has always existed a fascination with numbers, not computationally, but tangibly.
My ceramics practice is, at its core, a production. I feel immense pleasure in seeing rows and rows of repeated forms, in repetition until perfection.
I believe in the possibility of simultaneous quantity and quality and the need to minimize compromise between the two when aspiring for either. In the end, the feeling of “abundance” can only occur when the quality matches the quantity.
Abundant Freedom
The fish is an important symbol in many cultures and religions, often equated with wealth, prosperity, and life. The Chinese character for fish, “魚,” is a homophone with the word “餘” which means “abundance.” Thus, when celebrating the Lunar New Year, a whole cooked fish is often featured on the dining table, and a common greeting is “年年有餘,” wishing wealth and abundance for each coming year.
The freedom of movement is a luxury. Especially during this pandemic time of our lives, we miss the freedom to travel, the ease in crossing borders and boundaries. Whether restricted by political reasons or personal responsibilities, the sense of being tied down to one place can be suffocating. Through my arrangement and placement of ceramic fish forms I hope to create a sense of movement and the abundant freedom I imagine fish to feel while they are swimming in wide open seas.
Abundant Luxury
The black Périgord truffle can be, ounce for ounce, more expensive that pure gold. It is one of the last food products that is better foraged, not farmed, and is truly consumed in sync with the seasons. Intrigued by its complexity and beauty, I developed a glaze that mimics the intricate patterning and applied it to naturalistically modeled truffle forms, and thus immortalizing the ultimate modern day luxury food item.
Any table graced with a few perfumed slices of the tuber melanosporum is immediately elevated. We always want more when the paper-thin truffle shavings are landing on our plate—we would never tell the chef to stop. However, when confronted with too much of a “good thing,” how does it affect our appreciation?
Abundant Time
An infinite spiral, with abundant possibilities to extend in either direction, endlessly spiraling to a point or widening outwards presents abundant possibilities. In designing a perfectly calculated spiral into a plate, it becomes a track for sauces to be poured table-side during an haute cuisine meal. The mesmerizing nature of the spiral creates a meditative feeling, encouraging the viewer to pause and watch even as time is going by.
Time is the ultimate luxury—our allocated quantity continuously dwindling. To have such an abundance of time that the act of eating is allowed to provide not only necessary sustenance to our bodies, but also sensory pleasures, is a luxury.
