Ginger Markley
Artist Statement
ARTIST STATEMENT for Summer 2008 show at Clark Creative Group
When I was quite young, one of my friends told me that she heard that stuffed animals changed and became alive at night while we were sleeping. I was alarmed… life was suddenly far more complicated than I had realized. There was a small universe in my bedroom. Although I couldn’t see anything, my new awareness compelled me to separate the dangerous animals like lions from the defenseless animals like bunnies and sheep. The possibility of the presence of various realities which I am not able to directly perceive has always fascinated me, and I am still trying to understand my place in such a layered world. I intuitively channel into my art everything that I understand about nature in the hopes of expressing truths about the human condition.
The stuffed animal episode is long since past, but in my artwork I would like to reconnect with the vivid imagination and innocent beliefs of my childhood years. This room, the display, is partially a retelling of my childhood tale, and it is also a metaphor for something else. I think it can be a metaphor for a number of things, and invite the viewer to take a moment to experience the work to find their own meanings.
Much of my ceramic sculpture involves human-like faces on plants or animal bodies. Often there is a clear delineation where the face begins—a line or color change. Over time, this has evolved into the idea of a costume or shell. I feel that these clay bodies are vessels for energy, and their participation in the lengthy clay process ends with taking them out of the warm kiln. The fire has given them life. I enjoy my close proximity to this magic.