Hannah Thompsett

"Potentiality"

Artist in Residence solo show at The Firehouse Gallery in Rochester, NY

Potentiality can be described as the opportunity to develop or come into existence.  This exhibition is an exploration of this process-- of discovering and realizing potential.  This process starts with a definitive set of parameters in the form of a grid.  When the various lines of the grid are folded on a piece of paper, volume is achieved and form begins to materialize. The recognition of this form is brief.  Once the form is recognized, the paper continues to move, thus birthing a separate instance of structure.  By transferring these fleeting moments into clay, that brief second of recognition becomes significant.  It is captured in permanent rigidity allowing for intimate study and exploration of the form without the fear of it disappearing.  This material shift allows for the capture of the form, however the malleability of the paper, the possibility of form, is gone.  The life of an object begins, thus gaining a new potential.