{"id":6109,"date":"2026-08-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/?p=6109"},"modified":"2026-08-18T15:10:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:10:38","slug":"the-clay-remembers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/2026\/08\/26\/the-clay-remembers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Clay Remembers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">By Anna Trevathan, Alumni Managing Editor<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-18-at-3.05.26-PM.png\" alt=\"A close up of a potter shaping clay\" class=\"wp-image-6110\" style=\"width:764px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-18-at-3.05.26-PM.png 1050w, https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-18-at-3.05.26-PM-500x257.png 500w, https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-18-at-3.05.26-PM-768x395.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1050px) 100vw, 1050px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hands of potter making clay pot | Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">before i touched the clay, i was warned-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">the clay will remember every movement&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">now there is clay underneath my fingernails,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and i wince- the clay did not give me permission&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">the clay was unopened, uncarved, unscathed,-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">then my hands punctured, pulled, pressed-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and suddenly the clay is spinning, somehow still?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">why did the clay stay still? the world was moving-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and the clay was still- frozen in time,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">waiting for a touch it did not desire, did not invite<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and i, the tortured artist, the unknown aggravator,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">step on the pedal, i move the clay and it fights&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">the clay folds, bends, and pushes into my fingers&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">-i fight it, i hold it in place, moving so slowly&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">the clay begs me to let go, to stop trying to change it-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">to perversing it\u2019s body into what I want it to be&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and i persist, digging my dirty fingers into the center&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and spreading the clay up and around&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and i will sculpt and wait for my clay to give in,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">to take shape and surrender it\u2019s being<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">my fingers will turn to clay, and they will crack&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and collapse inwards, and i will finally be broken&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Anna Trevathan, Alumni Managing Editor before i touched the clay, i was warned- the clay will remember every movement&nbsp; now there is clay underneath my fingernails,&nbsp; and i wince-&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-6109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6111,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6109\/revisions\/6111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6109"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=6109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}