Billie Murray

Leaps and Bounds

Ceramic

16.5 x 15 x 10 in.

Artist Bio

My current work is concerned with the practice of building clay entities that reference and discuss the body. My practice has evolved from an exploration of filling, expanding, and demanding space through the ceramic medium. From protective structures like garments and constructive materials like cinder blocks, my hand built forms are inspired by the concepts of support that elevate, house and reference bodies.

I am enamored by the way information is collected through the consumption of media. My work stresses the accumulation of material and ideas. Clay becomes saturated with the impressions of hands as it creates a record of progress. Slab by slab, my hands compose sentences and stories as many parts are woven together to make a surface.

"Building" is a verb that drives my thinking. We build companionships, we compose spaces, and we assemble homes. My lifestyle has become heavily intertwined with the way that I build my large ceramic forms through the celebration of many parts coming together to make a whole. I am intrigued by heirlooms of labor and the way my family has told stories with our hands for generations through food, tradition, and exaggeration. I believe in the importance of histories that are passed down through gesture and touch. My practice is a testament to the right to consume and occupy space. Silently, but loudly asking to be seen, my work emphasizes the inherent value and strength in remembering and exhibiting movement.