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Artist Statement 

In my artistic practice, ceramics serve as both a medium for self-expression and a therapeutic process. The tactile nature of working with clay allows me to engage physically with my emotions, particularly through hand-painting intrusive thoughts and phrases onto my sculptures. Central to this exploration is the recurring character I developed, the Watcher, an anthropomorphic figure representing the internal dialogue between private fears and their external manifestation. Through this character, I can confront and externalize anxieties, making them visible and tangible within the public sphere of art.  My work is deeply rooted in rhetorical feminism, where I explore the relationship between personal experience and broader societal narratives. I am interested in how inner thoughts—often silenced or considered taboo—can be reclaimed and displayed through visual language. By placing these intimate reflections on display, I aim to challenge the boundaries of what is considered acceptable in public discourse, especially within the framework of feminist art, where the personal is inherently political.   Influenced by the Pop Art and Funk Art movements, I draw inspiration from their ability to juxtapose the mundane with the bizarre, the grotesque with the bold, and the personal with the political. Both movements have challenged conventional aesthetics by embracing the strange, the bold, and the provocative, creating art that disrupts and engages the viewer on multiple levels. In my work, I channel this energy, using bold colors, exaggerated forms, and conceptual imagery to explore themes of mental health, trauma, and societal expectations. Through ceramics, I process personal and cultural traumas and invite the viewer to engage in this confrontation of inner turmoil. 

©2021 by Reilly Deller Art. Proudly created with Wix.com

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