Grace Sachi Troxell: exploring growth/decay, form/deformity with Ceramics & Clay

 

    Grace Sachi Troxell gave an artist talk at Sacramento State University on March 1, 2023. She is an artist based in Ithaca and Brooklyn. Her current work, using found objects and clay involves ideas about forms, deformity and also digestion. In her talk, Troxell gave us an overview of her education and upbringing as someone who grew up around ceramics and art since her father was a ceramics artist. She walked us through her time growing up around ceramics, her time in the bachelors and master's art programs, as well as her time in post graduate studies and residencies, all of which led her to be the artist she is today.

    Starting from the beginning, Troxell talked about her upbringing briefly. She talked about always being around art and how that early exposure to art piqued her interest in the subject. Her father's practice as a ceramics artist also played a big role in that. When asked about how much her father influenced her, Troxell mentioned that he, in fact, was quite influential, especially in regard to returning to ceramics later after dabbling in painting. She mentioned that ceramics was comfortable for her, like a kid coming back home. 

    This return to ceramics didn't happen until her master's, however. She spent her bachelor's degree practicing painting.  She spoke of her interest in space and line which eventually made its way into her current work. During her master's was when she made the return "to her roots" let's say and came back to making ceramics. She showed us images of her own firing furnace that she made during her MFA program. She gave us a glimpse into the making process of the furnace which I found to be really fascinating; everything from the foundation of the furnace to the shape of it was thought through. 

    In terms of her artwork themselves, a few come to mind that really stand out. No More Chicken Nuggets, Mommy (2020) and Untitled (Sunflowers) (2021) were two works by her that caught my eye. 

       No More Chicken Nuggets, Mommy, 2020, wood fired clay,

 paper clay, slipcast carrot, steel, fabric, 72" x 35" x 29"

                                            

    No More Chicken Nuggets, Mommy (2020), has such a humorous title that I couldn't help wanting to know more about the art itself and how it connects to the title. One student asked her about it, and she responded by recounting a time in her childhood where she refused to eat the chicken nuggets her mother had put in front of her; she had chosen to become a vegetarian and has stuck with that ever since. Her lifestyle choice of becoming vegetarian played a role in the formation of this piece. 

Untitled (Sunflowers), 2021, unfired no shrink clay, slipcast clay vegetables, 

raku fired vegetable amalgamations, dried sunflowers, beet juice, 144 x 32 x 32 in

    Untitled (Sunflowers) was an artwork the artist briefly went over in her artist talk along with other works that belonged to a series titled "Potato Séance". This piece, along with the other artworks in the series dealt with varying stages of growth and decay as well as form and deformity. The way the clay is cracked and there are various protrusions in the container was something I found quite intriguing; it made me wonder about the artist's choices in leaving the cracks of the clay exposed and the protrusions visible in the way that they are as a statement about decay and deformity. The composition of the piece with the organic sunflowers' stems taking up most of the upper space of the work while the clay container taking up the lower space was something I thought about as well. The dried sunflowers with its petals gone emerging out of an opening in the container (the other which seem to be shut but seem to be barely containing something) seem almost as if they are resisting their decay, yearning for a time when they once followed the sun with their petals intact in glorious yellow. The muted grey palette of the container further adds to this interpretation in my eye.

   For more, visit Grace's website: Grace Sachi Troxell where you can find more about her career as an artist and more images of her other works. If you have a chance to view her other works, please let me know which ones you find most interesting and why!