Tracy Wilkinson

Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Artist statement

SPACEBLOOM 2023 TRACY WILKINSON Tracy is a British/American artist working in mixed media, primarily clay and glass. In her current series, SPACEBLOOM, Tracy explores our memories of the future, the reality of our present and the real future we face. Sci Fi movies where space travel seemed hopeful and adventurous now seem to be less of a choice and more of an escape for survival. The use of materials in SPACEBLOOM are representative of the contrasts in our environment. The clay being the strength of the earth, our ingenuity and resilience while the glass is a celebration of the fragility of the natural world. In this work, solid, simple shapes in clay are reminiscent of aged space stations while soft frozen flowers creating glass gardens emerge from docking doors and hatches, blooming into dark skies. Changing with the light, the glass shapes are sometimes skeletal, sometimes cloudy or shining brightly, full of color. The work, like a planet, changes as the light revolves. Seventies science fiction influenced the shapes Tracy creates in her work. As a kid she was drawn to the ancient futurism of Star War’s Tatooine, so alien to the brick box housing of her English hometown. The connection of a primitive dwelling in rounded simple forms being part of a technologically advanced society felt new and exciting. The work of futuristic architects such as Paolo Soleri, Nadir Khalili and Claude Costy, have also influenced the direction and form of Tracy’s ceramic work. The organic...

Artwork