Brenna Busse

Artist Statement

Brenna Busse
thoughts on my work and process...

“We are nature in human form” Tara Brach

Illuminating our connection to nature, seeing ourselves as being nature, is an ongoing intention in my work. Because my art depicts the human figure, and clay is my medium, there is an inherent connection: made of clay, we are earth.

In creating with clay, I am struck by its flexibility and responsiveness. As it warms and forms in my hands, it has a kind of tenderness. I have experienced a tenacity too, in the clay. Beginning a piece with an idea in mind, the clay seems to take a different form as if by its own knowledge, alive in its own becoming.

There is ritual with clay that I find very centering. All of the elements are present, with their essential qualities: water -- to moisten, keep the clay flexible, and then to leave when the time is right, air -- to dry the clay, fire --the heat of transformation -- and of course, earth -- where it begins and ends.

In this elemental celebration, the lumps of earth become figures. After firing, I stain them with paint or ink; paint with acrylic paint to highlight texture and add color. These pieces are unabashedly gentle, peaceful; reflecting and inspiring that part of us to open our hearts, to connect with nature, and that spirit within us. They are caught in a moment in time, in a gesture, in awe.