Crimson Laurel Gallery

"Each of us is similar in that we have a place and it is important to honor this sense of place, especially our homes.

Asheville, North Carolina has provided me with a community of educators as well as suitable materials to work with.  I mostly use clay that is local to Asheville.

In working with this clay, I slow down and honor my materials creatively, drawing on them for inspiration.  My landscape enters my work through recognizable images in my mind; the clay is literally part of the landscape of my home.

Recently work has taken place away from my home and landscape.  In a response to this, the work contains new clay, new energy and a mixing of the two locations of the Asheville home and the high mountain desert of northern New Mexico.

The movement of earth's layers, weathering, and surrounding materials make each set of particles unique.  I allow the clay to have its own voice; I find myself working with clay and giving it the first priority.

I create many of my surfaces by exposing the interior of the clay through pushing out the large particles rather than covering them up.  The surface is searching to explain in depth the journey of the form.  I like the potentials to communicate with simple clay forms.

In the wood firing process, I am exposing the clay to a journey of intense heat and destruction, which contains risk and balance.  Along with the visual signs of fire, my interest in the fire is to infuse the work with a special life force that can only be understood through touch and experience.

We all have our own life with size, shape and place, which we should honor.  In encountering my work, I hope the viewer is called to their own unique home, family and life in their particular place."

Matt Jacobs