Did you always want to do what you’re doing?

I didn’t always want to do it, though I definitely grew up in a creative family. In a way, that sort of confused me. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was very lucky in that they really supported and wanted me to be a creative person. But I was always a shy kid, and I had a hard time expressing myself. So it was weird to be in this reverse situation where my family was putting me in the creative classes and I was like “I don’t want to go, I don’t want to do it,” because I was scared. And I think that ultimately was beneficial for me because it pushed me to open up.

But I think I was sort of all over the place growing up. I was into dance. I was in this young dance company. I did take ceramics in high school and was into it… but I’ll never forget, I had this moment. My high school boyfriend’s father was a pretty well-known artist, and his wife was a successful actress. I remember being at dinner with them and saying I wanted to be a ceramicist, and I remember them laughing at me. And I thought, “If these two very successful creative people are laughing at me, I should maybe rethink that.” For a while, I actually wanted to be a translator for Latin American literature. I went to school for writing, and loved studying Spanish. I have a BA in poetry.

So how did you come back to ceramics?

I was working in a gallery as a communications assistant. I was at a desk all day, and it was the first time I didn’t have an actively creative life. Because I’d always been into ceramics, I got a membership at one of those clay studios, just to have a creative outlet. 

And then I met this incredible woman, she had Lily Tomlin energy. Very wacky, vivacious, full of life. We bonded and would be in the studio at the same time. She wound up introducing me to this artist who made furniture out of plaster. She was like “You should work for him if you’re interested in pursuing art.” So I started doing some freelance assisting for him. This was in 2017, and I had never heard of collectible design or functional art before. I saw him doing that, and that’s when I thought “That’s what I want to do.” And I quit my job and started working in a restaurant and decided to pursue this...

So when the pandemic hit, was that when you took a leap?

Yes it was — sort of a forced leap! Things really took off for me during the pandemic. Which was psychologically strange. Everyone was at home, thinking about their space, and allocating their money toward things that make them feel better and good about their space. 

I don’t know how prepared I was for that. After moving to LA, it’s taken me a couple of years to come down from the mindset and the position of having to say yes to everything and not necessarily being very active in pushing my career along. It’s maybe been a year and a half since I’ve come out with anything new. And it’s because I get into this cycle of saying yes to everything! That was the last couple of years. I feel like I’m shifting out of them now, which is exciting for me.

Finding that balance between making it a career and being an artist.

I’m not a business person and never expected to be. I find it absolutely ridiculous that Liberal Arts education don’t require you to take a business class. They foster all this creativity and pursuing your own path, but then don’t equip you with the tools you need to actually do that. It isn’t like you just make art and sell it through someone’s studio. I’ve spent the last year thinking about how to keep this my full time gig, but not say yes to everything and end up burning myself out Making new things and exploring was the whole reason I wanted to do this.

It is funny how it can feel easier to be creative when you’re existing in the form of a non-creative thing.

Like when you have a waiting tables job?

Yeah. When the container is a creative thing, sometimes it feels harder to be creative.

Do you have a morning ritual?

I’m not that consistent about having that, though I do recognize that I would benefit from that immensely. I wake up, and definitely the first thing that happens is — the coffee’s on. My partner is so specific about it. So we’ll go through these different styles of making coffee. I let him take the reins on it. We were in Europe this summer and got a Bialetti after. So I’ve been enjoying that, like the ritual of that.

The thing that I like in ritual is… I would love if I was someone who woke up, and meditated, and wrote my thoughts down… but what kind of grounds me is ritualistic action of making coffee or tea in the morning. I always drink herbal tea before I have coffee in the morning. I just feel like I should; I just know in my body that needs to happen in the morning.

I try not to read in the morning because I know I’ll get lost in my book and be late to the studio. So I do the crossword. It tickles my brain in the same way a book does. 

What do you do at the studio?

I try to sit down every once in a while and write out a production schedule. I work on commission, so I basically go in and work on what has to get done. I set myself up for the day. I usually clean up a little bit in the morning, at the end of the day I can’t even fathom it because the work is very physical.

And then I’ll just get started. Depending on the work, I can work on one piece the whole day. If I’m making sconces, I can make two in a day. I keep music on.

What do you listen to?

I’ll listen to a book, or just listen to anything.

With your work, I imagine ambient or solfeggio sounds playing…

I really should. I recently put the Challengers soundtrack on. It’s great. I wish they cut the dialogue out of the score, because it’s so good. Very high tempo. The other day, I had to ship a bunch of things, which is very tedious, and I just cranked it out with that soundtrack. Lately, I’ve been having a Paul Simon resurgence kind of moment. There’s a reason it’s happening… I was just listening to Paul Simon and Joni Mitchel. The doors were open, I had a cross-breeze coming through. It feels like that time of year. Something's in the air.

Is there something through your art you’re trying to do? Or are you just trying to make something beautiful?

I think there’s two ways for me to answer that. I feel like I need to work with my hands. And I think on a personal level, it has always been as simple as that.

On a more outward level, I think it is about making beautiful things. Sometimes in the world we live in now, I get a little bit bogged down by that; sometimes thinking, “What’s the point?” But I do feel like making things that are pleasing to people is a very calming thing to do. And I think it brings a lot of unfettered joy to people — or I hope it does! But that is the point of owning art and beautiful things. I chose to work more in design because you’re obviously buying the work because it’s beautiful. Whereas, when I worked in art… there was a Catherine Opie piece in the office — a very prolific photographer, who makes very serious, emotional work. It’s even trite for me to position it that way. And sales reps would come in, and the client would be like “I don’t think these are the right colors for above the couch.” And I’d be thinking “Are you fucking kidding me!” Because her work is very profound — and matching the couch is what you’re thinking about?

There’s so much meaning that can be derived after the fact of the overt exchange of getting a piece of art. The fact that my work is functional feels simply useful. A poetry professor at Bard really instilled in me that content arises out of form. Focusing on the form of what you’re writing can lead to the meaning — through that process. I think that’s something I’ve really brought into my practice. My work is incredibly meaningful to me. I don’t feel the need to beat anyone over the head with that. I’m content with people buying something just because they think it’s beautiful. It can have more meaning outside of that. But that’s sort of enough for me.

Why or how did you choose lighting?

The reason I chose lighting is that I liked there was a container. Otherwise there’s way too many directions you can go. That’s something else I got from the workshops I did in college – you need to put constraints on your work in order for that work to be successful. For me that was lighting. When you have that kind of constraint put on your work, it almost feels like there’s way more to explore, then just the blank table in front of you.

My favorite workshop was when I was given a piece of writing, and the only words you could use were from that story. But you couldn’t put any of them next to each other. You had to create your work from that. I always thought that was fascinating, that you could do that, and that’s when I feel I discovered things like Form being the way in… pulling words from something else to make something new, and then being surprised at the outcome.

It’s an important homage to the fact that nothing is original. No one is reinventing the wheel. No one is doing anything that’s never been done before. That exercise is an important reminder of that.

How do you do what you do, literally?

Everything is hand-coiled, except the sconces. They were coiled the first time I made them but in order to make them replicable they’re slab constructed now. I’m not technically trained in sculpture of any kind. It doesn’t look very professional when I’m working, it honestly looks pretty bad until it’s finished (laughs).