Michelle Woods Pennisi
The balance and accepting of my reality
My artwork is a constant journey of self-discovery into my identity, becoming a diary recording my experiences. I want to reveal how I see the world through my personal experiences by sharing my story. It is fueled by questions I ask myself concerning the realities I am confronted with. The images are motivated by emotions of vulnerability, isolation, anger, love and fear. It is charged by humor, sarcasm and finding comfort in my over-active imagination. In my head, I am constantly racing forward or dwelling on the past until the story is told.
Clay is the perfect canvas on which to share my drawings. It allows me to express myself from more then one perspective. I am currently using three main images for my work: birds, trees and houses. Each one represents a different aspect of emotion and responsibility to the other symbols. The symbol of the bird conjures up thoughts of freedom, but are they really as free as they appear from our view? In my work, the bird is the carrier of the story, representing a friend or myself. The search to find balance between bird as an object and bird as the narrator sustains my interest. The image of the tree symbolizes roots, being grounded or bound to something. Houses are an important part of my work representing financial commitment, security, family and unity. Through creating objects and sculpting my story, my hope is to communicate how I fit into the larger dialog of life.
