BFA Thesis Exhibition

Sophie Parker’s thesis project centers on a series of three hosted dinners with distinct communities that have shaped her life, including her work environment, family, and friendships. For each gathering, she had designed and fabricated a custom set of ceramic tableware informed by her perception of each group’s identity, translating their dynamics, values, and relational energy into material forms.

The dinners function as both lived experiences and performative acts of care, while the tableware and documentation serve as lasting artifacts. Drawing from functional ceramics, social practice, and feminist histories of domestic labor, the project positions hosting as both a conceptual and material strategy.

This work investigates how intentional making and communal rituals can resist isolation and capitalist value systems that privilege productivity over connection. Ultimately, the work explores how objects can embody collective identity and how craft can hold emotional, relational, and experiential meaning.