Sarah Burns

Artist Statement

I have always been a maker. I find it important to live with and use handmade objects in daily life; they bring a grounding presence to both my home and my sense of self.
I work primarily with stoneware, drawn to clay for the way it engages all of my senses. It holds my focus and continually challenges my curiosity through the process of making.
My work explores both hand-building techniques and forms created on the potter’s wheel. Many pieces begin on the wheel and are then softly altered into familiar geometric shapes. I enjoy creating series of components and spontaneously assembling them into compositions that explore space, balance, and form in unexpected ways. These processes allow me to move fluidly between structure and spontaneity, combining carefully formed elements with intuitive construction.
I fire my work in both soda-fired reduction and wood-fired kilns. The interaction between warm earth-toned clay bodies, subtle soda ash surfaces, and wood ash flashing gives each piece its own distinct character — every object emerging as unique and one of a kind.