“I use the animal figure to explore empathy and sentiency, and to challenge the perceived order and comfortable classifications of life. My figures are tricksters—both familiar and alien, corporeal and ethereal—existing at the interface of human and animal worlds. Their stoic postures and ornate, often beautiful appearances can act as facades for existential uncertainties. 

​

Material and process are the tangible means through which I contemplate the realm of these figures. I use clay, a material that relies on touch to take shape. As I sculpt large body parts, establish gestures, and articulate fine details, each figure develops a unique physical and emotional presence. They are subtle hybrids, inspired by the nuance and sameness of species’ behaviors and anatomies. 

​

Like a taxidermist, I often cover the sculpted figure in a ‘skin.’ Rather than animal hides, however, the skins I create are made of more unexpected materials. I apply these elements in patterns that reference hair and fur growth, as well as the animal’s underlying musculature. As human hair impersonates muscle and porcelain mimics fur, the body’s inside and outside is conflated, and the lines between animate and inanimate are blurred. These fleshy coverings are meticulously and lovingly applied, allowing me to both control and understand the figure as it comes into existence. 

​

My work is inspired by the raw commonalities of animal and human life, considered through an imaginative, otherworldly lens. The process of making is central to its meaning. My practice is an empathetic gesture; the desire to create a believable sense of life pulls me forward as a maker."

- Artist Statement

 

Lindsay Pichaske is an artist and educator based in St. Louis, MO. She received her MFA from the University of Colorado, Boulder and her BFA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her work is exhibited throughout the country, including Jane Hartsook Gallery at Greenwich House Pottery in New York City, SOFA Chicago, Duane Reed Gallery in St. Louis, and Flashpoint Gallery in Washington, DC. She was a long-term resident artist and Taunt Fellow at the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts (2011-2012). She received an “Emerging Artist” Award from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (2013) and the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award (2014).

​