"You Are My Mommy Now" Audry Barnes

You Are My Mommy Now, 2025

Ceramic

54 x 15”

$5,925.00

My childhood was a fantasy, in seclusion only understanding the world as it was given. When I found clay, it became the essence and relation to my past memories. Clay forms found and forced out of my imagination evolve into exaggerated animal and human bodies. On the surface, following their natural curves, words from personal memories give the viewer further understanding to the language my pieces are trying to speak. I give each body a twisted neck that searches desperately to remember exactly how their story went. Yet despite their attempt, after the firing process they are subjected to stillness through vitrification. This stops them from completely remembering what they shouldn’t have tried to remember in the first place, leaving me with only one solid understanding, I am them, they are me. My creatures disguise the past.

Referenced familial fragments and writings are the bones of my paintings. These fragments and words are gathered from captured old photos, physical references and stories passed down by my relatives. With a limited view, I dissect my family's past images by using a small cut out frame to reveal hidden moments that are lost within the photo. Once I start with this found reference, I let my imagination and tendency for muted color take over. I'm giving a glance into my familial history and at the same time, retelling the ambiguity I feel when trying to imagine what it was like before me. This leaves me stuck in what might have been but, I won’t wait to dry while being hung, I owe it to my ancestors to regurgitate their history.