My desire to come back reminded me of the complicated environment in which I was raised, where I was constantly engaging with earth, wood, water, and smoke. I started hand-building ceramics and used leftover sawdust from my brother’s carpentry as fuel for my kiln. It’s been a divine process.

With very few accessible studios on the island I was raised, and a looming pandemic, I got creative. I began by dreaming about it and voicing those dreams. This led to suggestions from my community of different resources I had at my fingertips. I then began to use the materials that were accessible to me. This included clay, water, stones, earth. I dug up a hole, surrounded it with rocks, and there was my furnace. Each of these pieces is unique — hand-built, lovingly fired, and touched by the four elements.