Carmen is a ceramic artist from Vancouver BC. Through their youth they worked with clay through various youth programs and community studios. They completed the ceramic studio certificate program at Kootenay Studio Arts in Nelson BC before moving to Calgary Alberta to tackle their BFA at Alberta College of Art and Design.

ARTIST STATEMENT

As a non-binary transgender artist, I use my work to explore my fraught relationship with my body. As I move through the process of transition, I am documenting my experience of body with ceramic vessels, and mulling over incongruities that have yet to be resolved. Through physical interaction with these lumpy, blemished objects I am assessing my inherited notions of the ideal body, and inviting others to do the same. I create objects to transform the simple actions of eating and drinking into moments of meditation, contemplation, and connection. I create vessels that refuse to disappear into the background of our domestic lives. My pots demand touch, with supple and undulating surfaces waiting to embrace fingers and a myriad of textures to be explored, each piece is a tactile experience.

Student Award 2018