Larry Laughlin

I am not clinically obsessive compulsive (I don't wash my hands 100 times a day). I do have those tendencies in my personality. I am obsessive compulsive about clay, throwing and firing. Another personality flaw that plays heavily into my art is stubbornness, with both positive and negative effect. I do understand that I need to learn when to be stubborn or not. It is a struggle.

Accessibility is an important aspect of my work, in two different ways. A form I make defines a space that is as important as the form itself, and I have a need for it to be accessible in some way. A reason I make functional objects (although they approach non-functional in scale, texture, and the scale of their apertures) is that they invite people to touch, tip, pickup and interact with them in an intimate way.

The way that I work the surface of my forms is reactive and intuitive. I build up layers of slip, washes, and glazes in patterns and rhythms to attempt to develop a sense of depth. Each layer does have a personal significance to me.

The process of my work is a reaction to my environment. I am influenced by my teachers, past and present, people around me, my life experience, music, textiles, etc.