Bradford Davis

MFA 2024, Ceramics

Dear Viewer, 

I am humbled to say that the return to clay has been one of the greatest catalysts in my path of healing. As a veteran contemplating the sum of my life experiences and their weight on my mental health, I have come to co-exist with my traumas and disabilities, journeying through stages of denying, researching, acknowledging, and fighting them, akin to a circle of acceptance. 

My artistic practice is fueled by the repetitive deconstruction and reconstruction of the archive of trauma that I have walked with for over a decade. This mirrors aspects of a common therapy practice known as cognitive behavioral therapy, the second go-to treatment plan of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mental Health Clinics — second only to intense medication regimens. As a patient, I stagnated for over a decade from failed interactions, treatment plans, and a deluge of ever-changing medications and their side effects: years of isolation, fear, instability, insanity, introspection, and breaking bread with demons I never knew existed. During this period, I was incapable of engaging with clay, convinced that I would discover yet another passion I was no longer able to enjoy due to my injuries. 

In my practice, I seek clarity, questioning boundaries and sensibilities through the process of engaging clay. Perhaps for many, the malleability of clay leads to a greater awareness of self, a conversation between the material and the maker. The unpredictability of the ceramic process that I explore through stress, fracturing, and deformation strikes a chord in my brain — a vibration of internal calmness providing a brief respite from my mind’s exhaustive mental war games. 

In my research, I have come to appreciate a simple historical vessel known as the amphora. Rich in history, this vessel was originally designed as a durable container to ship goods long distances. Within this durability and the personification of the vessel, I find my expressions. Having spent much of my life under the required expectation of being unbreakable, I find a sympathetic thread within these amphorae. Exploring this form in its destruction, deformation, and restoration, I challenge those prior expectations of perfection, and re-contextualize what it means for me to be whole. 

This body of work is a collection of responses and a collaboration of clay, my hands, and an ever-spinning Rolodex of traumas and emotional responses. This is a materialization of energetic exchanges and failures made visible, products of a desire to give face to unseen struggles. 

I would like to thank Danny Cappello, Alessandra Puglisi, Donte Moore, George Rodriguez, Paul Serena, Leonor Marion-Landais, Anne Adams, and all the members of my Graduate Committee for their support and guidance.  

I would like to thank you for coming to my show and supporting the arts. If this is your first time at an opening or your thousandth; Art saves lives, it saved mine. Thank you. 

With Love, Bradford