Anastasia Ferin Knight, known as Staz to friends, is an artist/art therapist, a self-described ‘magpie’, and a cat mom to a demon floof. A kinesthetic individual, Staz prioritizes the somatic experience of art materials to create highly personal works exploring domesticity, interpersonal connection, ambiguous grief, and the search for contentment in a time of increased societal isolation. Raised by a complex blended family across two households and having lived in Wisconsin, New York, Rhode Island, Illinois, and planning a move to California, Staz is no stranger to maintaining the continuity of ‘home’ through kept objects. Inspired by this lifestyle Staz finds her passion in ceramics, having fallen in love with how ceramic connects present to history, human to earth, utility to creativity Driven by the material history of use and a personal desire to increase care in community, Staz’s work looks to build connection through the intimacy of kept objects.
As an artist I prioritize process over product. I prefer to engage with the sensory aspect of my material than with the expectation of what will emerge. As I am impatient in life, I am impatient in art. My body of work is largely ceramic based and is focused on exploration of relationships, often familial but also romantic and platonic. I explore what is left unsaid, the energy held in empty spaces, memory and nostalgia. I often explore the experience of contentment, an experience which certainly eludes me. I am inspired by Americana and domesticity in much of my work, even as I love and prioritize mess and abstraction. This particular installation explores the experience of being raised in a stepfamily, and what it means to be a family when you are a collection of strangers brought together and told to love and be loyal. My research explored clay as ambiguous material, and how that materiality can assist stepfamilies in exploring their roles. Secondarily, my research also focused on how the creation of transitional objects can create a through line for one’s sense of self as they engage in stepfamily formation.
For this exhibition I created over 75 pieces across a 15 week period utilizing stoneware clay and three major glaze types: underglaze, dip glaze, and luster, playing with the usability and food safety of the pieces through the decorative process. I created dishware and tableware, building more and more family detail and memory into my work as I went. My artistic influence is my own family – all 9 of us. Dad, stepmom, stepsister, stepbrother; Mom, stepdad, stepsister, stepsister; and me. Two houses, two families. And we are only expanding. While my project focuses on my experiences growing up, in more recent years we have taken on two husbands, one ‘sister-in-love’, and three babies. Our dynamics have shifted, and exploring our past has served to make me more confident about our future. All of my pieces are a reflection of our domestic life. There is a collection of plates however that stand out for me as a reflection of joy and normalcy in our family lives. The first is the smallest, with a candle painted on it. Another larger, with a small green tomato vine. A third, smaller than the second, with HUZZAH written across, and one more slightly smaller than that with a taller rim which reads ‘there are magazines everywhere’. Finally there is the largest, with part of a poem I wrote about our dinner tables. This collection of plates speaks to our jokes, our growth, and our chaos, all of which can be found at our tables.
One million thanks to GnarWare Workshop for being my clay home here in Chicago. Your kindness and patience is not taken lightly.
Utensils, 2023. Ceramic and glaze.
Nostalgia set, 2023. Ceramic and glaze.
Juicer and egg cups, 2023. Ceramic and glaze.
Almost everything still doesn't even begin to cover all the memories, 2023. Ceramic and glaze.