Ashton KeenFocus Tuesday, June 4th 2024
opens online at 2pm EST

BIOGRAPHY

Ashton Keen received her BFA from the University of Mississippi. Following graduation, she went on to become an intern at STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise. Most recently, she completed an MFA from Utah State University. Her work has been displayed in several national exhibitions and has received various awards, as well as being selected as one of Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artists 2024. This summer she’ll be attending a residency at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park where she’ll focus on pouring pots and atmospheric firing.


STATEMENT

Coming out has changed my relationship with my family. Using melancholy floral imagery, I want to speak about the distance and loneliness I feel towards the relationships I view as traditionally loving and nurturing. Thinking of memories of gardening with my mother, dandelions were something we’d uproot from of the ground to make space for new growth. By roughing up the surface of the vessel I try to imply the feeling of soft soil running through my hands.

I use the black dandelions to represent self. Resilient, but delicate in nature, dandelions stand as symbols of how coming out changed my relationship with my parents. This event altered the idea of their perfect garden and left me feeling like the black sheep of the family. I like to represent the dandelions in a stark silhouette, invoking feelings of seclusion and being misunderstood. Dandelions are defiant because regardless of their environment they prevail and blossom. Through my work, I seek to mirror my experiences with coming out with that of the stereotypical perspective on dandelions—transforming into a flower representative of resilience, adaptability, and beauty.

Using a dark red clay adorned with a subtle slip surface, I strive to emphasize a sense of history, revealing the raw beauty of the vessel underneath. Finishing the work in atmospheric kilns gives each piece a soft simple exterior, enhancing what already exists in the pot. These surfaces become gently kissed by the flame of the kiln.

PROCESS

I use a course cone 3 red clay. I enjoy the texture the coarseness can give to the clay when roughing up the surface of the vessel or trimming feet. Primarily, I throw and alter my work. All of my surfaces are finished with terra sigillata and occasionally Amaco black underglaze. I line all of my work with a clear glaze over the sig. In the atmospheric kiln it lends to a lot of variation piece by piece.

I prefer to soda fire my work. I enjoy the subtly soda can give to the surfaces. When I have the opportunity I also wood and salt fire to cone 8-10.