Lauren McFarland, McFBk ceramics

For two years, I’ve been making 53 bananas—wheel-thrown, hand-built, and individually numbered—in varying sizes, ripeness, and stages of peel. What began as a one-off design at a 2023 workshop on a tiny island in Finland (where there were no bananas) evolved into a focused study of form, variation, and repetition. The banana—iconic, playful, universally recognizable, and funny—proved technically challenging. The repetition required serious consideration—and often made me laugh—while the enthusiastic response kept me engaged and encouraged ongoing experimentation with texture, color, and form. While this project is sculptural, I also create functional work for everyday use: tableware, small tables, lamp forms and (very honest) drinking vessels.