"When asked why he does ceramics my father replies ‘I’m remaking the pots that were broken’. Sixty years ago half my family faced a choice before entering Japanese-American internment camps—to leave their pots behind for strangers or to break them. The other half of my family lived in Western Oregon, on a small farm where my mother eventually grew up. Results of two seemingly incompatible cultures, my sister and I live our lives discovering how these cultures conflict but sometimes overlap. Their antagonistic forces have shaped and molded me into who I am and how I see things, which I aim to explore and communicate through my work.
As I consider the antagonistic forces within me, I see how they manifest themselves in ambivalence about who I am and how I see the world. Is there a way to bring these forces together from opposing ends of the spectrum? Is there a way to reconcile the dichotomies within us? How do we hold our parts together? To remain true to who I am, I must reconcile rather than choose one side over the other. Divided into two, yet rooted on both banks, I seek to be a bridge spanning the gap. So, when asked why I do ceramics I respond that it is not to remake what was broken, but to connect the pieces and make one of two. "

PERSONAL
Born 1979 in Anchorage, Alaska

EDUCATION
2002-04 University of Alaska, Anchorage, studied under Steve Godfrey and Robert Banker
2003 Carbondale Clay Center, studied under Linda Christensen
1998-2002 University of California Santa Cruz, received BS in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology
1999-2000 Rhode Island School of Design summer school, Providence, Rhode Island

EXHIBITIONS
2004 Group Show, Pottery Ohm, Anchorage, Alaska
Group Show, Campus Center Gallery, Anchorage, Alaska (3-D invitational)
2003 Group Show, Campus Center Gallery, Anchorage, Alaska (3-D invitational)

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