Sara Swink
I make clay human and animal figures with a psychological stance. My hand-built sculptural work imparts feelings and ideas through narrative, often with a humorous edge. I’ve always loved animals and enjoy expressing human tendencies through animal archetypes. Animals are instinctual beings while human animals are often cut off from their instincts; an animal may symbolically bring us a quality we lack or want to hide. My process includes collage, sketching on paper and in clay. I like to riff and doodle, one idea leading to another, in an endless progression that reflects and feeds my inner life. I use a gritty sculpture clay, incise into the clay, bisque fire, finish with oxides, underglazes and glazes, then fire to cone 5.
