Gentle Spikes is an exploration of the pains and pleasures of vulnerability through the creation of fantastical imaginary relics. In their use of ceramic and metal, the works examine conceptual and material relationships between fragility, violence, tenderness, and fear.
In my study of medieval weaponry, I became hyperaware of the tension between these objects’ formal beauty and great brutality. I turned to nature, looking to thorns, spines, and teeth as examples of violence beyond the context of cruelty. The resulting objects straddle thresholds between the manmade and the natural, the historical and the fantastical, and the delicate and the hostile.
