Kyle O'Connor

Working with red clay and 3D modelling, I make ceramic work that investigates the effects of technology. I use computer systems to generate outlines from maps of my childhood neighborhood, utilizing these shapes to design vessels that reflect my interests in these technological processes. I manipulate icons that relate to my childhood as a method to investigate how technology can affect a memory by corrupting images. The images are fed through systems that have the capacity to alter and simplify data. This data can then be made into a physical object by way of 3D printing, laser etching, and XY plotting. The translation from digital to physical is an important aspect to my ceramics. Exploring what is lost through this operation offers insights for my next work. Establishing a dialogue around new technologies while employing them, allows me to operate under a guise of contradictions. These contradictions lead to conversations that go beyond the surface.

My work is concerned with the multiple realities that are created by technology. How we are constantly deciphering what we see to determine what is real or not. Questioning these offered realities will become increasingly important as technology becomes easily available and domestic, therefore, increasingly intrusive. I am driven by curiosity and a desire to experiment. I experiment through material research while exploring new technical processes, to keep asking questions of myself, my material, and the rapidly changing world around me.