My ceramic art reflects the quantitative and analytic connections developed in my brain during 50 years as a mathematician, mathematics teacher, and education policy researcher. Various patterns, equations, and geometric transformations find their way into my work. My kinetic sculptures embody structured relationships that, to me, reflect the regularity and balance that occurs in nature—from atoms to flowers to galaxies.
My three-dimensional mobiles consist of multiple, regular solids hanging carefully balanced below two or more support arms. There is an inherent tension between the exactness of weight and distance required to maintain horizontal balance and the complete freedom of the mobile to rotate 360 degrees in space. I hang the mobiles outdoors where even a slight breeze highlights this interplay between freedom and constraint and engages the viewer in a dynamic experience. Early mobiles featured pyramids, cubes and octahedrons; more recently I have added dodecahedrons, cuboctahedrons and icosahedrons, challenging my ability to work with the clay.
The surface decorations are inspired by a variety of sources. The patterns on many pieces evolved from the feather-like decorations on black bowls and pitchers from the San Ildefonso pueblo. At other times, I decorate using the shape of tools and objects I find in my garage studio (e.g., protractors, metal ribs, circular templates) or I carve spontaneous, free-form patterns.