Heidi Casto
A response to Rachel Yoder
Process Notes
The world we live in is formed through our surroundings, beliefs, people, and relationships; endless little moments that continually form our way of thinking and acting. I am often struck, in my work of depicting animals, by how beautiful and simplistic their lives seem from this point of view. Their existence is largely grounded in instinct. And I think about this instinct often as a human...what is my root instinct without the world pushing in with its thoughts and beliefs? Would I be a better individual if I purely listened to my instinct?
Rachel Yoder’s "The Traditional Room" pulled me deep into this imagery of instinct versus influence. How much has our potential as women been weighed down by the expectations and influences of this world? How powerful and free could we be without the weight of our skirts? The imagery Yoder paints seems surreally ridiculous, but is it really that far from our current reality?
Responses to Rachel Yoder's Work
Heidi Casto
Heidi Casto is the owner and creator of Heidi McKay Designs. She has an MFA in ceramics from the University of Iowa. She is currently working in her home studio in Iowa City balancing her time between her ceramic work, her jewelry designs, and raising her girls. She finds joy in creating one-of-a kind pieces with a design style that brings inspiration to those who hold, use, or wear her work.