Most recently, O’Malley has been interviewed on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler podcast, recognized and chosen for publication by Ceramics Monthly, The Surface Design Association Quarterly Journal, The NCECA Annual Journal, and The Studio Potter Journal. She has been a recipient of multiple local, state, and national grants and was an American Craft Council Emerging Artist finalist. Additionally, O’Malley has been a demonstrating and exhibiting artist at NCECA for the past two years. Their work is in permanent collections at the Northwest Art Gallery, the Taoxichuan Art Center, and numerous private collections.
Artist Statement
My work is rooted in an environmental consciousness that derives from my concern for the earth’s rapidly declining health. I use it to highlight the misuse and abuse that we (humans from Western industrialization through present day) inflict on local and global natural ecologies. My work is influenced by my everyday observations of landscapes (both naturally occurring and human-altered), environmental catastrophes, and how present-day society interacts with the natural world.
I am passionate about green health because I grew up in a rural location where I learned from an early age to respect the natural world through acts of gardening, food preservation, and livestock care. As an adult, reflecting on these experiences that influenced my values and heightened my sensitivity to local environments, I am especially perceptive of our hazardous climate.
My materials and my process show my concern for natural ecologies through meticulous attention to turning earthen and upcycled materials into strong sculptural forms. My monumental sculptures are made out of earthenware clay, handmade paper pulp, and upcycled waste materials (plastic bags, fishing line, electrical wire, and old clothing and bedding). I marry my earthen objects with industrial surplus that is re-contextualized through repetitive textile processes, and the contrasting media charges my work with tension. The union of materials also serves as a metaphor for the complex relationship that humanity has with the natural world.
In addition to conscious material usage and impactful placement, I rely on strong formal devices and sensual form to create work that is symbolically charged. My forms are influenced by domestic and industrial objects that I experience in my daily life that are indicative of warning symbols and possible solutions for living more resourcefully. I use exaggerated scale, assembled mass, form isolation, and tension to emphasize my concern for the declining health of our planet.
My large-scale work offers my viewers a space to reflect on our hazardous environmental situation. I hope that my passion for making, my love for the earth, and my delight in observing the world around me in combination with my work, will encourage people to join me in reconsidering our daily routines.
