Valerie Banes Hancock

Cooking is and has been an integral part of my life and it seems natural that I am drawn to making items that are centered on cooking and serving food and drink. By creating functional altered dinnerware, I hope to inspire people to slow down, examine and enjoy, while restoring, creating or simply embracing the bonds between family and friends. The way that the altered forms displace liquid and food out of the round and into unique and individual shapes interests me in the same way that an instillation artist might be interested in forcing the viewer to move about a space in a particular fashion, causing them to be consciously aware of the situation and space that they are in. To emphasize the altered forms, I develop glazes that break over hard lines and pool in the recesses, ideally in differing but complementing colors. I particularly enjoy utilizing the soda during the firing, as well as glazes that offer a contrast in satin and glossy surfaces, to further emphasize the altered surface and make the piece not only visually interesting but also tactilely enjoyable.