Artist: Nicole Woodbury
Title: A Sovereign Mind
Media: Original Porcelain, Mason Stains
Size: 13 x 9 x 8 in.
Artist Statement: 
Line upon line, the strata of the earth records an ancient history of becoming. Layer upon layer, knowledge and experience presses into us—knowledge acquired precept upon precept—each moment shaping perception, identity, and choice.
In this piece, I imitate the geological process with mason-stained porcelain, compressing coil upon coil, layering, folding and sanding. The form twists, opens, and closes in on itself— suggesting an organic mind at work: expanding to receive, contracting to discern, turning ideas over until they take shape. Women’s growth is often nonlinear—cyclical, intuitive, layered rather than straight. At our core is an innate sense of identity forged in a crucible of experience. 
This work reflects an ongoing process of becoming. We are not fully formed; we are forming. Each fold is a choice. Each exposed line is a history. Each twist is an act of agency. If we can bend our minds around accepting the layered nature of who we are—contradictions, intuitions, strength, vulnerability—then we begin to claim the authority that has always been ours.
Sovereignty is sacred co-authorship with God. It is a woman trusting that her spiritual impressions matter, that her voice is divinely endowed, and that her stewardship over her mind, body, spirit, and story is holy work. Sovereignty, like stone, is built line upon line.