As reinventions of everyday items, my work highlights the extraordinary nature of the mundane. My research centers around the inanimate and often low-cost things that do work for us as humans. Childhood items, ephemeral objects, and familiar structures all hold weight, emotional or otherwise. I find interest in the translation of these objects into new materials: by re-creating them, I question where their value is generated or lost. The process of casting, which I use in all my work, contributes to these notions of worth. Porcelain and glaze, plaster, soap, silicones, and stone each have a specific material syntax. They speak of fragility, play, age, and human gestures. Intentional changes in form during the casting process suggest body language in the works, making them project buoyancy, exhaustion, or tenderness. I eulogize and humanize these objects simply by the act of reproducing them.
Through material metaphor and poetic movement, my sculptures define the banal yet remarkable rhythm of the everyday. I am interested in re-applying rules – rendering soft as hard, making sharp seem dull, and manifesting common as precious. In the work, I subvert the physical and psychological value of the object to reimagine our everyday trappings. I believe this attention to our surroundings and possessions is incredibly important. In a world that is constantly asking us to move faster, I experience attentiveness and care as a small rebellion. By creating these sculptures, I invite the viewers of my work to do the same.
Jocelyn Reid is a ceramic and mixed media artist from Calgary, Canada. Reid’s work highlights the extraordinary nature of the mundane by re-creating everyday objects, childhood items, and familiar structures. She has exhibited her work in North America, Taiwan, and Europe, and was the 2021 recipient of the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics. Reid has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre, the Vermont Studio Center, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center. Reid is currently a graduate student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas.