canning wide mouths

stoneware, motion sensors, and servo motors

Canning Wide Mouths is a sculptural installation of oversized Venus flytraps, hand-built in ceramic and fitted with motion sensors that trigger them to snap shut as viewers approach. Each form responds instantly—an automatic gesture, sharp and brief. The movement isn’t hostile, but protective—an instinctual retreat disguised as threat.

The work examines boundaries, both physical and behavioral. The wide mouths tempt and repel, suggesting appetite, voice, or vulnerability—but they close before you can get too close. It’s a performance of sensitivity, a self-defense mechanism disguised as interaction.