Balance: a state of equilibrum; symmetry; counterweight: <Back>

These two horses are yin and yang. They are also the 4 elements. The turquoise is water and the red iron is fire. The red iron is earth and the turquoise is air (as seen in the blue sky).

The four elements are necessary for my work to exist. Fire stabilizes the clay and could not exist itself without air, Clay is earth made plastic by water. One without the other would create imbalance and the object could not exist. The whole is the sum of the separate parts.

Together each form complements the other in gesture, silhouette, surface and interior space.

The construction of the work is a process that embraces balance. The clay must be at a state between wet and dry to support weight and yet adhere. Construction is an additive process that takes place in stages, taking into account the integrity of any one stage before adding to the form.

I call this intuitive engineering. The clay has its time and need and I work within those parameters. Cooperation between artist and material achieve a state of equilibrium in order to create form.

Jeri Hollister