Waning the Light

Sarah Louise Davey is a Philadelphia artist currently pursuing an MFA in Ceramics at University of Florida.

The art of making, for me, is very much a response to the human condition of needing to connect to one another, as well as to what lies just beyond the borders of our realities. I am drawn to the idea that art can have the ability to affect those who look upon it, allowing these portraits to be conduits to a realm within our subconscious. Although my females are hard ceramic sculptures, their hollow, eggshell-like interiors feel like a glove or a mask that can easily be slipped on and off, like the psychic armor of a distant self. An introspective dialogue is started as I make each piece, invoking a surreal understanding of the physical and emotional auras of these strange beauties. Heavy in symbolism, they illustrate the psychological scope of a hybrid creature. Their wide-eyed gazes are meant to portray an emotional duality that is constantly evolving. Some are alter egos of women on the verge, slightly un-hinged, hinting at the peculiar with posture and pose. Others are portions of a body meant to articulate a gesture through a single limb in a way that a whole body cannot. They feel familiar, like echoes of the past strung together by the twinges of nostalgia.