Here comes the Cherry Boy

Through a sculptural practice in clay, I illustrate and locate the transient space between childhood and adulthood. I explore the interplay between the materiality of clay and what it means as a human to touch and to be touched. Through touch, the clay is compressed and forms a skin, each handling leaving a fingerprint on the material memory within the clay. The physicality of a human body is imprinted onto the clay and the works become replacements for the flesh. The clay transitions from soft and malleable to rigid and alluring. Drawings and highly saturated glazes incorporate concepts of coded methods of masculine representation and cavity-inducing desire. The symbols used are childish and nostalgic, emoticon cherries, Bugs Bunny, cherubs, and gingerbread men. Some pots are beaten and sliced out of blocks of clay with sticks, blades, and chisels. The forms become realizations of childish play and adult bodies. The objects, imbued with joy, become a resistance against traditional forms of masculinity and an embodiment of a queer coming of age.

Bio

Emmett Jorgensen is a ceramic sculptor and painter based in Portland, Maine. In 2024, he received his BFA from Maine College of Art & Design. Jorgensen often uses highly playful and sometimes brutish methods of handbuilding in his construction of forms. As he makes pots and sculptures, he is inspired by clay's capacity for holding marks and the transformative nature of glaze. He engages with themes of childhood, queer masculinity, and sensual touch. Through his work he contends with a normative understanding of the adult man and his performances.