Nora Fenelon
Artist Statement

​As many people find art as a therapeutic release allowing them to express their innermost desires and inquiries, I have used my AP portfolio as a way to express the questions I have in my life through the combination of ceramics and textiles. I began the year by making abstract sculptures, which are vessels that do not take the shape of any specific item but rather use the structure as a way to express their meaning. Although at the beginning of the year, I was not as focused on the shapes of my pieces, I started to find that even the curves of the vessel could contain a meaning. By creating a completely new and organic shape for each one of my pieces, I was able to express the questions that I wanted to answer by taking advantage of space. For example, by creating holes in my vessels I can represent the gaps I find within my own existence. Beyond the ceramics portion of each art work, I have found that adding textiles after the piece has been fired has given me the ability to find more meaning in each of my pieces and add a more human-like and fluid element to the previously stagnant forms. Through pieces such as “Oidhreachta” or “Am I Pretty Now?” I seek to express elements of my life such as familiar ties and self loathing that are so human-like in nature that it is impossible to represent them properly without a man made material like textiles. Within each art form I create, I hope to use the contrasting mediums to properly convey the internal dilemmas I find within myself.