Artist Statement

My ceramic works utilize a heightened sensory perception through sound, tactile experience, and woven patterns to encourage introspection through handcrafted items in everyday rituals. I find moments of solitude increasingly rare and simple acts for the self overlooked or hastened through. The importance of moments for self-care and their grounding effects inspire me to create highly ornate and delicate elements to draw attention to the objects we interact with and their positive impact on our state of mind. I gravitate toward cups, flower vases, and tapestries for the intimate interaction they already demand, and expand on the form through pattern, size, and perception of material. 

I construct these woven forms from individual clay rings made from coils interlinked in complex, radial configurations. Everything is composed of a circle, I am fascinated by the symbolic reference to cycles and repetition in use alongside the creation of rituals inside the domestic space. The fractal design results in a malleable, geometric network that responds to the user's movements, grounding them within the moment through their awareness of the object's fragility. However, the longer someone spends with one of my pieces, the more they uncover its inherent contradictions.

These contradictions come from my inspiration of familial crochet blankets and chainmail armor, which merge various dichotomies: softness/hardness, delicacy/strength, feminine/masculine, and light/heavy. These concepts highlight the striking contrasts that coexist in our everyday lives and bring to question our perception of our surroundings and where we find our own sense of comfort every day.

Bio

Courtney Segrest (she/her) is a ceramic artist in Denton, Texas, where she recently graduated from the University of North Texas with her MFA. She received her BFA from the University of Oklahoma in 2019 with an emphasis in ceramics and sculpture. Her work utilizes interwoven ceramic rings to create a heightened sensory perception, encouraging prolonged engagement with the handcrafted objects. Her work can be read in Pottery Making Illustrated: March/April, Art Focus: Volume 34, and The Oklahoma: Arts Review, May 3rd. She has exhibited across the US, such as Hella Cups in California, the 15th Annual cup show: Form and Function in Florida, and Tactile Voices in Clay in New York.