The recent work on view in Underfoot, Wade Tullier’s first show in Columbus, will present works that are responses to natural disasters such as hurricanes and the disasters they cause. With this in mind, he is asking viewers to question how tragedy is interpreted and how it shapes identity. What happens after a catastrophe strikes? How are traumatic events rationalized in the mind? The placement and arrangements of his ceramic sculptures place the viewer within the context of a post-catastrophe. When entering the gallery, the viewers are often met with a mixture of pleasure and pain, as bright colors divert attention from the underlying tones of loss. The depictions in Tullier’s ceramics are inspired by his unsettling experience as a forensic sculptor and researcher. The imagery in his ceramics trace back to the experience of working to identify the unknown, the stories he was told as a child, and growing up in southern Louisiana.