My ceramic work takes two forms: abstract tile wall hangings, like the untitled piece at left, and “furbiture:” furniture, refurbished with tile.

Major influences on my ceramic work include the geometrically-perfect honeycomb (I’ve kept bees as a hobby), geometric painters like Piet Mondrian, and the art criticism of Clement Greenberg, especially his notion that modern artists are inspired by the medium in which they work.

I am intrigued by the idea of recreating contemporary industrial products — like tin ceilings and diamondplate metal flooring — in the ancient, handmade medium of clay.

I also experiment with incorporating other materials into my ceramics, such as glass; after all, glaze is a form of glass.

Around a clay studio, there is much discussion about the tension between form and function; the implication is that the more beautiful the form of a ceramic object, the less functional it is. I challenge this preference for form over function with furbiture, which I describe as neither wholly beautiful nor wholly functional, but dysfunctional.

In 2000, I produced a series of four “bucket tables” — clay tabletops set on plastic buckets — for the Someday Café of Davis Square, Somerville, Mass. The bucket tables also followed the apiarian, geometric and industrial motifs.

To view some examples of my ceramic work, click here or on the images to the left.

Oil painting: still to come.

Paper: still to come.