Each figure is 5"x5"x5" made from glaze-fired earthenware.
The first “Pushover” sculpture I made was 12”x8”x8”, approximately. I used red earthenware clay, the same material I’m using for the new ones. The goal is to make a minimum of 100 of them, each one unique, to be placed on the floor, creating an installation. What intrigues me about these figures is their apparent vulnerability (no legs) coupled with their inclination to get right back up after being pushed over. The concept is adapted from the old toy clown that did the same thing.
I made my first Pushover in October of 2015 when I was spending time with my Mom who was in acute rehab after a traumatic brain injury. I saw so many people struggling to recover. Then last week Baltimore erupted after a young man died in police custody. The event was the match that lit the enormous fire of anger and injustice living inside of most of us. There are generations of people who know only war. But we still hold on to whatever little bit of life that’s ours. It’s worth the work it takes to heal. Wounds can open us up to ourselves and to our communities.