On my second day at Medalta, I felt lost and almost a sense of loss. I had left my home and the comfort of my own studio… With this I realized the experience was similar to when I lived as a foreigner in Japan: one of integration and disintegration. This series is a snapshot of my two-month residency at Medicine Hat, Alberta’s, Medalta International Residency, made possible through winning the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics. Titled Integration / Disintegration, it begins with the teacup as an entry point to connect the viewer with my understanding of what it is like to be an engaged burnt dirt manipulator and of course, learner. We each hold our idea of what functionality is and to what purpose it retains. For me, the literal sense of functionality with bowls, teapots, plates, and cups and saucers becomes something greater. As objects they, in a sense, hold memory and nuances of place. My snapshot is of integration as a maker and sense of loss when things become something else. Clay is manipulated and compressed, imposing integration and disintegration from its initial beginnings. The same can be said of a learning environment; we integrate then slowly disintegrate, becoming (hopefully) something greater. This teacup saucy Integration / Disintegration installation is about integrating while simultaneously disintegrating, playing with the sense of self, the element of the precious, and the growth of oneself by accepting the greater question of time and meaning.