That I want to do this
for the rest of my life.
401-200-5565
cvaspol@gmail.com/cvaspol@risd.edu, Instagram: @thekindbear, RISD CER 26
Reduced Stoneware, Glaze
Waxed Red Twine
Ongoing Series.
Fall 2025
Hiraeth—a Welsh word describing a nostalgia or longing for the familiarity of home. For centuries, Welsh families wove with the wool of local mountain sheep, whose short, resilient fleece supported a thriving domestic craft. Their signature double-weave — two layers woven at once and bound—created the bold, reversible designs now closely tied to Welsh identity.
Symbols have faced the brunt of my research thus far. In this process, symbols become a form of ceremony– small rituals of recognition that tether us to the relationships, histories and inheritances that constitute who we are. They mark the moments when connection reveals itself, often subtly, and allow us to participate in that revelation. My research into Welsh tapestry blankets, and specifically the Caernarfon motif, became one such ceremony of return.
What began as an attraction to multiples and pairing came into sharper clarity when I recognized the pattern on a sweater my mother knit for me years ago. The geometry of that symbol, the Caernarfon, found itself as a core symbol in my exploration.