Grace Rogers

Artist Statement

“The Fossils that Might’ve Been” is a series of ceramic pieces that considers what was lost to time in mass extinctions of the past and what may be lost in the mass extinction of the present. There are countless species that have slipped beyond memory, never lucky enough to be preserved or discovered. This project speculates about what the evidence of their existence would look like. These objects are made to look like they have been preserved through the ages. Some of these “fossils” have companion pieces to provide context, as if these objects were just discovered in situ. The warm, neutral tones found in natural relics are brought into this series using iron oxide and other washes in both oxidation and reduction. The pieces resemble the ancient remains with which we are familiar but remain distinct and imagined. The series exhibits a sort of scientific surrealism; each object is rooted in reality but has never existed. This work asks how much we are truly able to learn or know about flora and fauna of the past.