My name is Ava Kofke, I came from the earth and one day will return to it. I view life as a cycle and through that viewpoint discovered my favorite medium has the ability to cycle through stages of life too. I major in ceramics at the University of Georgia and have spent the past 3 years of studies looking into the properties of clay. Academically I have been building my knowledge of the material and how to create with it. Outside of school I have been building my knowledge of how to live my life and surprisingly clay has played a large role. Through my time working with it I have learned just how similar I am to this medium.

That might not click with some, how is a ball of mud similar to human life? When you examine the way people grow you essentially are coming from the elements. Through your life you are shaped and molded until you return to the earth in death. I have found through working with clay that there is a similar process of creating something beautiful that can eventually return to the state it started at. When unfired clay dries it's a fragile balance between sturdy enough to be a hard object and delicate enough to be transformed back into its original state. There is a life balance present here. Similar to a human it takes one mistake to essentially “kill” a clay form. Through my practice this has taught me lessons on how temporary yet beautiful human life is, just like unfired clay.

Clay to most is dirt and water, however to me it's a teacher. I've learned so much about myself and my world through sitting and working with a material that grounds you to life.