Paige OToole

I draw inspiration from ornament because I love excess. I build with urgency because my touch is gluttonous. The loud, unapologetic taking-up of space. I feed off the energy of wanting more, needing more, being more. My touch in clay is both immediate and archival, lasting and tangible evidence of me. I have two different building methods that are determined by the type of object I am making. One being what I call a representational render and the other a fragmented render. Objects that fit into the realm of a representational render are built with a definite set of parameters. Building these objects happens fast, as my desired outcome is known. The fragmented renders come from a place where there's not a specific outcome in mind. They are built with the idea that ornament becomes form.Form is made through growing, through falling, through a trust in the material. The work is constructed under the parameter of bilateral symmetry. In order to work symmetrically, I sculpt using both hands simultaneously. This process can be difficult but also quite meditative, a way to step outside of myself. I build fast. Quick globs of wet clay piled together. My hands speak before I do, like a dance or a fluid conversation that I am having with the material. There's aggression in the way I handle the clay, but at the same time there's a deep admiration. Clay responds to touch, holding the memory of mark like a cast of my hands in motion.


The Filters you have chosen do not return any results. Please modify your filter selection.