Artist Statement
I create objects coded with parts of us, valuing them as expansive fragments of Black life forged through communal history. Each piece is rooted in cultural archiving spoken through Black hair, present memory, and speculative pasts. The braid is a living artifact uninhibited by the boundaries of time, translating our stories and everyday experiences that are yet to become rituals. This work gives them physical form, safeguarding each within an archive that enshrines knowledge and people. These objects carry our past, breeding respect for the unrecorded. Drawing on the legacies of Black diasporic pot-making traditions, I use materials and processes to communicate place and identity. By combining traditional and contemporary methods, I build this visual aesthetic in memoriam of traditions kept, forgotten, and passed down. My work confronts the realities of Black existence by highlighting the value and weight of identity embodied in women's record-keeping work. These objects identify and elevate ideals and cultural practices, cementing their significance and preserving them before they require protection.
Artist Biography
Chelsea McMaster (b.1995) is a ceramic artist of Caribbean descent who primarily works with coil building, sculpting techniques, and traditional finishes. Her work transcribes unwritten and forgotten narratives that bridge history, craft, and storytelling through the ceramic medium. She completed her BA in Art at Millersville University (PA) in 2019 and a MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University (NY) in 2024. In 2023, she was awarded the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Graduate Student Fellowship and the American Ceramic Circle Research grant. She is a Fulbright Scholar and a National Geographic Explorer whose focus is on the preservation, education, and expansion of Afro-Caribbean pottery practices. Her research-based practice centers on matriarchal craft legacies and preserving oral culture and traditions through object-making.
