Turtle Shells

These sculptures are further meditations on the form of the turtle or tortoise. The ceramic turtle shells are sometimes presented inside glass cases of my own making, which relate to the aquariums and terrariums the animals occupy in captivity, as well as Marcel Broodthaers’ metaphor of the “Wintergarden” for the museum itself, and its conventions of display. The motif of the shell has a material basis as well, that of the vessel, a form to which ceramic is particularly suited, and has been historically applied. In some cases, I have employed a unique method of blowing glass bubbles into the ceramic in order to create a body, or a “ghost in the shell”.