I made this sculpture for my Clay II class. Our assignment was to create a piece from pinch pots. This particular piece, which I’ve named “Mindless,” was made up of three pinch pots: one for the neck and two for the head. The bust was sculpted from a slab of clay.

I drew inspiration from ancient Greek sculptures for this piece. I wanted it to convey a classical look that also appeared somewhat broken.

“Mindless” represents the freedom that comes from unburdening the mind. In our society today, most people struggle with their mental health, including myself, and this piece represents the contentment that comes with letting go. The woman in this sculpture is at peace with herself because she is no longer carrying the weight of her mental instability.

To begin, I created a few sketches with the elements I wanted to include in my sculpture. One of the things I really focused on was how to create a smile that looked like the woman was at peace, but not happy. Getting the lips right was one of the most difficult elements to accomplish.

First, I sculpted the base of the neck. I then created two pinch pots and sculpted them into a sphere. I shaped the sphere into a head, and cut the top of it off. I adhered the two pieces together and then started to add the finer details.

One of the biggest illusions we create is the stories we tell about ourselves, and those stories are not always kind. Mental health conditions like anxiety and depression often stem from these kinds of illusions. In this sculpture, I attempted to capture the freedom that comes with abandoning those illusions.