Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kristin Yezza. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kristin , looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
There’s two quotes that come to mind when I think about work ethic. The first is one that said something to the effect of, we each have two lives, the second life begins when you realize you only have one. And the second one was from Steve Jobs and it was something like, if you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you. The ideas underlying these quotes, taken in tandem, i think really captures where I’m at in terms of my creative output. And my work ethic is a direct reaction to that pull and knowing that I only have a finite amount of time here. There are so many ideas I have, so many things that I want to make, the only way to see them all come to life is to keep going. And that’s exciting to me.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an artist working under the studio name, oon (@oon_shoppette). I have worked in a variety of mediums- ceramics, plaster, resin, & paper clay. Most recently this year I have started to lean into paper clay as a way to combine several ideas and values at once. Paper clay is unique in several ways, the first of which is that I make it myself using recycled junk mail. I think about ways to minimize waste often in my work and I love that this incorporates waste materials as the primary material itself. Paper clay also dries to a hardness akin to cement so it is very durable – more durable than ceramics, and it is also not restricted by the size of a kiln (like ceramics are) because it air dries which allows me the opportunity to play with pieces at a larger scale than what I have done before. I started a series of sculptures named “what to do with waste” and in this series I build armatures from non-recyclable materials from my own home (again another way to mitigate waste going into landfills) and then I build around these armatures with paper clay, letting the forms of the waste materials themselves guide the final form. In this way, the final pieces are always completely surprising to me because I have no pre-conceived idea of what the piece will look like – it all comes from a gradual building of materials. It is wholly about the process. My hope with this series is to create beautiful pieces that will be treasured for lifetimes, to serve as a reminder that we have a choice about what to do with our trash. There are currently four available on my website (www.oonshoppette.com) and a few more that are under construction in my studio.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
This might be going a bit against the grain but I think my lack of formal training in the arts has been a positive thing. This may not be the case for every person and in every field, but to me there’s just something magical about approaching something with a newcomer’s frame of mind. Trial and error is a huge part of my process and I’ve learned that messing up is not just ok but actually a gift. It’s ok to not know what you’re doing – there is something to be found in that space between what you don’t know and trying anyway. Closely related to this but on the flipside I would say is my formal education. I obtained my Master’s Degree in the Social Sciences straight from undergrad and while I haven’t used my degree in any linear way it was absolutely the greatest gift. Learning how to think critically and learning how to learn are advantageous to any career path you can choose. So my advice would be, learn as much as you can, stay curious, and don’t be afraid to jump into the unknown- there are fun things waiting for you there.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I would love to find someone to collaborate with on a series or collection (furniture or sculptural) using materials I currently don’t have access to – metal, woodworking, stone, etc. If you are someone who works in those mediums I’d love to chat!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.oonshoppette.com
- Instagram: @oon_shoppette
