Grace McCraw

I manage my life so that I can have as much pleasure as possible. However, I get stressed-out trying to extend moments of joy—fearing I’ll never be able to experience them again. While joyful moments feel effortless, there is always so much planning paving the way for these feelings. Through my experience as a woman I have discovered time’s relationship with joy as it intersects with the topics of femininity, exploitation and traditional domestic practices. Often there is so much waste after a party that I question if it was even worth it.

I prefer using my hands to build rather than a power tool or machine. My motivation for creating with clay is the intense feeling I get from coercing the clay to behave. I love that clay can never feel a hundred percent controllable. There is an unruliness to it. I am trying to find pleasure in every aspect of being an artist. I catch myself wondering, “is it more important to make things that I like or things that are objectively good?”

Overindulgence can distract us from things we really care about, but joyless making is more absurd. I like to share little stories from my life in my work and use humor and joy-related icons to connect with the viewer. I don’t take myself too seriously and freely use juvenile imagery. I am drawn to bright kindergarten colors and their association with happiness. I don’t think life has to be this super-intense, black-and-white way of living; I very much like thinking about life in shades of grey with color as the bow on top that ties it all together.