Hand by Hand
The basis of this project first emerged two years ago when I created this ceramic sculpture in an intro ceramics class.
A hand RECEDING into the ground, or perhaps growing out of it. From this, a wonderful new interest was born:
hand-made ceramic hands.
These hands above were made for my advanced ceramics course last fall. The title of the piece is “welcome” as it is the start of what was soon to become a larger project. This piece featured 16 ceramic hands, installed on campus for all to see.
Below is a photo of the installation, a flyer I created to spread the word, and some notes from my peers that they gave me after our class critique of this work.
With each hand I made, I learned something new and became eager to make another.
As the spring semester of my senior year approached, I realized that making one of these ceramic hands everyday would be a fascinating senior project— So that’s what I did.
for the entire 2024 spring semester I made one ceramic hand every day.
during the senior show, i was able to talk with lots of community members— artists, professors, students, and many others—and each person I spoke to had a different perspective about the piece. they were clearly interested in engaging and learning more. In that moment, I realized what the next step should be:
community hand workshops
With my experience assisting children’s art camps in high school, I knew how to guide others in making art.
I decided to apply for the Uc berkeley Addressing bias and bigotry mini grant, and was awarded the funding shortly thereafter. with this, i was able to lead 3 fully funded workshops, guiding about 60 students through the process of sculpting a ceramic hand.
each workshop presented new challenges and new opportunities, but they were consistent in their ability to bring the participants together.
Art has a unique way of opening people up– it stimulates our imagination and allows us to shed the stresses of everyday life.
Now, more than ever, I believe that access to a community art-making spaces is important as it SIMULTANEOUSLY brings people together while also providing an outlet for self-expression. The task of making a hand is quite simple, but the connections formed through these guided workshops are deep and meaningful.
