Growing up I worked hard to become an athlete and now I am working to become a full time Ceramic artist in the world of academia. This reversal of working my entire life toward becoming a better athlete to devoting myself as a full-time art student, has created a sense of abandonment from myself. By combining my love for basketball and ceramics, I am able to create the sensation of home by integrating both of my passions since both take time away from one another. To recognize the relationship between the mentalities of both sport and art; I have focused on the idea of practice. Using the rigorous routine of practice combines my athletic drive with my artistic creativity. Practice which creates an unconscious knowledge of muscle memory, which I have used in the execution of the individually thrown pieces. Just as an athlete practices artist practice also, which leads my idea in showing my practice to form my art. In both basketball and art, I have had to make daily sacrifices for the advancement of personal skill in one or the other. Having the passion to become better I am replacing my artistic mindset with my athletic mindset. Knowing that ‘others’ are working just as hard to take my place on the floor or in the show.
I do not practice to get something right, I practice not to get something wrong.