I was recently featured on Artists on Couches. The link is here.
“What inspires you?
“I’m inspired by the feminine adornments that surround me as I move through the world: elaborate mall storefront displays, the endless scroll of jewelry online, aisles of synthetic costume fabric in JoAnn (RIP), whimsical color names that are stickered on nail polish bottles and lipstick tubes, vintage clip-on earrings, fast fashion, and high fashion alike.
The materials I pair with ceramics are ones I use and love in my everyday life.
Beauty-supply finds like fuzzy pom-pom hair ties, glistening rhinestones, shiny nail polish, and holographic fabrics populate my work.
The process feels like picking out an outfit each morning…a play of texture, shine, and self-presentation that mimics my daily routine of getting ready.
My practice centers on crafting these oversized, jewelry-like objects that serve as vignettes of women’s experiences, especially regarding current politics relating to bodily autonomy.
Grounded in ceramics but adorned with fashion and beauty materials, these pieces are flirtatious, attention-seeking, and deceptively superficial.
They toy with their own material excess and potential, speaking to politics in their own voice: excessive, unabashedly hyper-feminine, and (most importantly), pink.” — Ali Hval, Iowa City, Iowa @alihval
@artistsoncouches
Photo credit: @thalassaraasch”