artist statement

The foundation of how I understand the world has come through my experiences with animals and time spent outside. I grew up in a subsistence household where gardening, hunting, and fishing for food were part of our daily life. Direct and intentional participation in the cycle of life required close and astute observation of animal behavior, and the natural world around me. It cultivated a deep awareness and gratitude for the connection and impact each of us has on the world around us.

In contrast to this, the daily bombardment of extraordinary and unreliable information we face, creates a fog of understanding that makes it difficult and exhausting to stay informed. The effect of this fog is complacency and reactionary behavior, and the ability to contemplate is overwhelmed. My work explores subject matter that many have become numb to, and offers a moment to contemplate our role in the world around us.

For my vessel work I use the beauty of form to draw the viewer in and then confront them with challenging imagery drawn from current events that is hidden from afar behind a monochrome pallet. As I have expanded my ideas from vessel to sculpture, I use physical representations of time to create an expanded perspective, and animal form to evoke abjection, for an unexpected and dislodging experience. This fracture creates a pause to consider what we value. It also reveals what we have decided to leave out of our moral equation, in the attempt to simplify and compartmentalize the contradictions of life. Through my work I engage with collective entanglement and critique human behavior while providing an opportunity for personal responsibility and compassion.

I have used the ceramic vessel in my work for a long time and now I am exploring the same ideas through hand built and slip cast sculpture. As I embrace new ways of working, guided by the direction of my research, there is a consistency in my use of narrative across surface and form. Whether in carving or in sculpture, I place singular images or objects together to create a conversation through the relationships created by their proximity. The space allowed by proximity gives the viewer room to layer their own experiences and conceptions with my work.

-Lukas Easton