Teresa Larrabee

Anxieties are the perfect catalysts for creation. They turn apathy into obsession. They make emotion kinetic.

My figurative sculptures embody ambiguous, self-referential narratives that act as a resolution between myself and my anxieties. I question the status quo of what is acceptable and what is taboo by creating space with my work that allows uncomfortable conversations to be comfortably seen, discussed, and digested. You may get heartburn, but at least you ate it. My history as an educator enforces this idea of creating space for freely exchanging ideas with the hope of bringing everyone into a conversation rather than just a select few who are directly impacted by it.

As with most people growing up, my dream job changed every six months and covered an array of disciplines in the sciences, medicine, and creative fields. Even now (as you can see in my diverse portfolio), my interests conceptually, technically, and aesthetically gravitate towards new obsessions and research opportunities. I realized within the last few years that all of my interests, however minor, support and inform each other, sort of like "side quests" in a video game. Basically, I love to explore.

I take an interdisciplinary approach to making by incorporating different materials and processes as a means of embedding symbolism into each narrative. I handbuild my sculptures as if I am constructing a building; fashioning sturdy bones and adorning the structure with carefully selected paint and accouterments with the same discernment as someone nesting in their home.

My work is often comprised of disembodied heads or allusions to the figure as a means of representing the individual, the lone experience, the feeling of a stray. My interest in multiplicity and its visual correlation to habits and rituals reflect both the calming and adverse aspects of repetition. I utilize repetition through both texture and form, intentionally leaving surfaces feeling unrefined yet complete. I am interested in that fine line between compulsive and compulsory.

Teresa Larrabee is an interdisciplinary ceramic artist and educator. She received her MFA from the University of North Texas and her BFA from the University of New Mexico. Teresa has taught university and community classes, held a two-year artist residency at Red Lodge Clay Center, and assisted artists in their personal studios and in workshops at various craft schools. Currently, Teresa is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Indiana University Bloomington.