FORME was created from a desire to be a better artist. I picked up a heap of clay a few years back and dove directly down the rabbit hole of everything ceramics. I absolutely loved making things with my hands. When people started asking to buy my goods and I was honored. I started working under the name Plants.And.Clay - Hosting workshops and selling works, but it never truly felt like me.
This past winter I participated in a community group show through CAST North Fork. Each participant was given a 10x10 piece of wood and told to create something from any medium they desired. For the first time ever I made a piece that was 100% for me. I took my time shaping each little porcelain disc, glazing them with a milky white glaze and firing them twice in the kiln. The construction of getting the discs to adhere to the 10x10 piece of wood was more challenging than I had originally hoped. I tried so many different adhesives that on parts of the work I just couldn’t hide the fact that I had failed to create a perfect piece of art work. At first I was feeling defeated that my work was less then perfect. After staring at it a while longer I fell in love with it even more. I fell in love with the fact that it was rough around the edges because it was symbolizing the process I had gone through with this work. I decide to name it “To You, For Me” because thats exactly what it was. Sure I made this work for you to enjoy but it was FOR ME. This is where FORME was born.
- Melissa Gabrielsen