C.A. Traen

Artist Statement

C.A.'Cat' Traen creates ceramic sculpture and vessel forms using a variety of forming methods ranging from hand sculpting, mold making, wheel throwing, and soft slab construction to reflect the conceptual content of each body of works.

Figures constructed from individual parts are reminiscent of the industrial fabrication process used to produce children's poseable 'action figure' toys. This process allows uniform scale and proportion for intriguing replication and dynamic postures that comment on today's fast-paced, technology driven lifestyle.

Richly textured soft slabs construct vessel forms while weaving a narrative tapestry of layered impressions from found objects that develop conceptual and emotional meaning in the moments they are pressed into the wet clay.

Highly graphic and stylized line drawings of nudes, insects, plants and other 'wild things' depict expeditions of innermost thoughts, attitudes, and memories and how they fit into our everyday chaotic existence.

Dripping, flowing, and fractured candy colored glazes set off rich neutrals antiquing the deepest textures to create an unexpected lens to view the impressed and marked clay surface, hinting at an alternative point of view afforded by optimistic perspectives, as even the most mundane task can become a wild adventure by simply changing how it is perceived.

Each of these elements of form, texture, color, and line are mixed and re-mixed, emphasized or omitted to approach an approximation of memories and feelings evoked from experiencing the wonder and beauty of existing in this world. The struggle is real, but each day brings opportunity to try something for the first time.