Sporarium

2022
ceramic and electrical components
Friends Artspace, Arlington, VA

In Sporarium lamps and sculptures grow from all surfaces. The light bounces off the layered interior walls and appears to be glowing within. The light muted colors feel soft and kind. 

A strange thing happens when I unload ceramic pieces from a kiln. The piece which I have spent hours building with my own hand, appears to have become its own being, as if I’m meeting it for the first time. There are visible changes that happen to a piece from firing: the color changes, the material hardens and the form shrinks. But the reason seems to be something else and it remains a mystery to me. Something similar happens when working with light too. When the light turns on within the form, it seems to sprout its own life. I make lamps because I want to witness this transformation.

Photography: Ethan Hickerson and Yuko Nishikawa