Artist Statement:
I ruminate on familiar feelings - déjà vu, tactile memory, subtle phenomena, pre- nostalgia - trying to grasp what is important, common and shared, and what changes through the lens of experience. My work comes from currents of impulsion and methodical working methods through ceramic forms and structures. Where elements are considered and precise, repeating and utilitarian, they are lulled also into the softness of thought, buoyancy of form, and happenstance.
I fixate on functional objects, whether within the domestic realm or that of marine fixtures, survivalist notions, and specificity of compact devices. Where objects and scenarios are constructed for a unique setting and use, they edge on the fantasy of their reality.
As an artist I flirt with craft and design which coincide in concepts of the touched and tinkered, the worked and solved, and of doing and planning. The idealized experiences I tend and nurture are a reflection of what I find essential and intangible. I question how I can intimately share this haptic something, the ghost of a feeling and the proposed quandaries through experience.
I want to challenge how we treat material objects and build our own spaces. Through these functional, decorative, and sometimes useful objects, I am curating a world which asks what is beautiful, necessary, and priceless.
Bio
I consider myself a maker with a craft and design background. I received a BFA from Alfred University in ceramic art and history and an MA from Aalto University in design and material research. I seek opportunities to make site, function, and material-specific work playing with form, serendipity, and personal engagement. I have lived in Helsinki, Finland since 2016, just after I finished a three-year residency at The Clay Studio of Philadelphia.
Mimi lives in Helsinki and is a member of studio Kulmapala and editor of the zine Salarakas. With a background in art, craft, and design, she loves making, mending, and mediating. Her favorite phrases to live by are: “If you build it they will come”, “waste not want not” and “it’s only weird if you make it weird”. She hopes to contribute to a community of openness, sharing, and support, especially between creatives.
