These paintings evolved from a sense of unease, bred by recent events. The paintings do not present a particular memory or scenario but an emotional response, a reaction to a sense of disbelief and dislocation. The paintings were curative, a remedy for and revelation of the essence of my lived experience.

In the paintings an atmospheric landscape surrounds naked or mysteriously cloaked figures. Their backs are turned away from the viewer, the faces obscured. Each figure stands alone or in ambiguous relation to another figure. The locations are unspecified. This is “some other country” – a country seen in dreams.

The ceramic pieces function as a further exploration of the paintings. With special emphasis on surfaces, the vessels were created by forming, carving and adding clay pieces and mineral additives. They carry the emotional intensity formed by the mysterious ceramic alchemy of earth, water and fire.

—Elizabeth Strasser