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Winter Resident Profile - Misty Gamble - 2008 Howard Kottler Funded Winter Artist-in-Residence mistygamble.com 
Focusing on the eccentric and unique qualities of the human figure, my ceramic work is derived from a combination of fantasy and reality. Gesture, posture and exaggeration of features play an important role in my ability to create dynamic sculptures that capture a moment in time. These snapshot sculptures display my interest in performance and an early background in puppetry. The work is further influenced by childhood memories and the id. I am interested in questioning the perception of normalcy, morality, and appropriateness, while examining human social behavior. 
In my present ceramic work, I employ the imagery of children. These life size children
are influenced by the study of sociopaths and horror films that deal with modern everyday
insecurities. They live in a world where the line between adulthood and childhood is blurred.
At once hideous and beautiful, sweet and terrifying, these free-willed children challenge
our notion of innocence when they are presented with a chance to sin. With a lack of
self-awareness or understanding of social norms, the child’s body expresses exaggerated
emotional states. The work is displayed off of the traditional pedestal and meant for
in-the-round viewing as an object existing in the same type of space as the viewer's. I use
monochrome color on the textural surface of the figure as a formal device to recollect
childhood nostalgia.
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