Functional art holds a special place in my heart. I can't help but contemplate the intimacy of an object like a ceramic mug, something that we hold tenderly and lift to our lips every morning as we sip our coffee. The handmade ones, encapsulating the fingerprints of their creators, being even more special. I generally create ceramic wares with utilitarian purposes in mind, but I believe that dining ware plays an even greater role in our lives and sees us through some intimate times with people who we care for. Communal gathering and sharing meals with our loved ones are privileges that were abruptly taken away with the Covid-19 pandemic. I've come to learn that life in a pandemic is fragile and dysfunctional, which are aspects that I have communicated through the disruption of traditional functional ware in Dysfunctional Ware (2021).

I compare this dining arrangement to our living conditions throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in the sense that it hints at normalcy, but ultimately is entirely dysfunctional. In this installation, the dysfunction begins with the table. Traditional dining tables are sturdy, grounded objects that host cherished company and support all of the accoutrements of a meal. Here, the tabletop-less frame is not capable of supporting anything. This references my source of comfort, that being gathering with my loved ones and sharing meals, being ripped out from under me. With no support system, the dining ware is left to rest on the ground. Whether it is shattered to bits or covered with non-food safe glazes, virtually all of the dining ware is rendered dysfunctional as well. The textured crawl glaze has a visceral, oozy quality that relates to my general feelings of unease and anxiety throughout the pandemic. It gradually seeps into the conventional white glaze to reference all remaining characteristics of normalcy succumbing to dysfunction, rendering the ware useless for its traditional purpose in the process. Some of the dishes are shattered to further disrupt their functionality and to convey that like ceramic wares, life is all too fragile.