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Much of my work explores the nature of being human, with all our complexities and contradictions- our birth, growth, aspirations, and mortality. Many of the works reference the dualities of humankind- innocence and evil, strength and frailty, dominance and subservience, order, and chaos. How we balance these parts of ourselves is what makes us who we are, influencing how we see our place in relation to others and our surroundings. The clay figures I create embody these attributes, often including ladders, bridges, and precariously stacked objects that reference these dichotomies.
I work through chance and accident, continuously making conscious and subconscious choices until the work feels finished. Creating with clay and found objects is integral to the meaning behind each piece, allowing this fluidity to occur intuitively. Many of my sculptural pieces are built in parts, evoking children’s toys such as dolls or puppets with disjointed limbs and heads. Figures are oftentimes in tentative relationships with one another, their spaces, and the objects they possess, begging the question, “Who is in control?” Is one in the role of the master and the other the puppet? This speaks to the larger question of who is directing our own lives. Do we have free will to make our own decisions or is there an omniscient power guiding our existence?
Overall, my artwork examines what it means to be human, both the mundane and profound experiences we go through. Through my creative process, I strive to tell a story that relates to the viewer in our shared experience.
Work by Ellen Roehne:
