Vicky Hansen
Penrose, Colorado

Artist Statement
As a clay artist, my work explores in vessel forms the relationship between landscape and the body. My inspiration comes from the landscape and dance. How weather, water, wind, and time transform rocks, trees, sand, and clay fascinates me. The intensity of a Colorado sunset, the fragility of a cactus blossom, the daily plays of lights and shadows quietly and constantly influence and amaze me. The intention is not to imitate nature or movement, but to express the elemental power, the mystery, the delicacy of the landscape and dance through forms in clay. I seek to translate my inner response; my sensations, feelings ,and thoughts to the volume, skin, and form of my sculptural vessels.

Clay. That pliant dust of the earth, transformed in the fire to a resistant memory of its making, captured me.  It is a demanding delight to coax a volume from a solid mass of clay. Clay remembers. It is fired. It contains, yet is spirited.  Nothing is more primal than firing with wood. The ash and flame embrace the form and can carry it into mythic time. I approach my work with intensity. I'm not trying to moralize or instruct in my forms, but to simply delight, surprise, bring humor or quietness to someone sharing my work.

Making work is a performance, like a dance, and requires discipline, practice, and playfulness. Clay in its moist state is most sensuous. It invites fluid movement and voluptuous volumes. These are qualities I pursue and welcome in my work.