Minna Graham Ceramics

I create... I create in order to express my emotional relationship to my surroundings. I have lived in many harsh environments, deserts and salt lakes, mining areas, snow country and dense forests. These environments are defined by extreme cold and heat, floods and bushfires, strong storms and high winds. I make what I see around me- charred blackened wood and earth, mud and teeming water, moss, leaves and bark. This is reflected in the tactile nature of my work. I enjoy the simple beauty found in nature and embody this in my work. I am interested in the relationship between humans and nature and how such extreme surroundings affect us emotionally. My work is sometimes a peaceful interpretation of these diverse conditions, at other times the tension I feel is reflected in the teetering forms and stacking of my work. I seek to push the boundaries of balance as nature's extremes push me, and by doing so to tell a story of my struggle between controlling my environment and managing myself within it. I am attentive to the balance of contrasting textures and surfaces. I am highly affected by my immediate environment and as a result nature is my greatest influence. Employing various methods of surface treatment, tonal contrasts and texture I am portraying a collision of emotional responses to contrasting seasons. The softness and gentle warmth of spring with a memory of an icy winter. The threat of bush fire, the sweltering scorch and breathless, dry heat of summer. I enjoy the simple responses evoked by nature and embody this in my work.