On every level, Michelle Dziak’s work with clay honors its origins. An intimate relationship to the Earth is present in her hand building process, her forms and textures, and her preferred finishing technique: wood firing. As an active, joyous participant in the wood firing community, Dziak celebrates ceramics as it relates to people. She views her art as an homage to human history and as a mode of connecting with ourselves through the Earth.

Each piece represents a conversation between artist and medium. “It’s kind of an adventure, kind of a puzzle, kind of a dialogue,” Dziak says, when talking about what draws her to ceramics. She may approach a piece with her own idea to communicate, but the clay often takes her in it’s own direction. “I do not necessarily feel responsible for what ends up happening,” she says serenely. “I’ll push those edges quite far.”