Casey Riordan Millard

Casey Riordan Millard comedically explores the "search for solace from the heartbreak of mortality" in her current Shark Girls series, which includes sculptures, drawings and paintings of girls with the heads of great white sharks. She constructs life-sized sculptures from steel, wax, fabric, clay, paint and ceramic; smaller sculptures in painted porcelain; and paintings in watercolor and gouache. See these quirky works for yourself at The Carnegie through Feb. 15. Here are five things that inspire this inventive artist: (Tamera Lenz Muente)

Other Artists' Work: For me, inspiration and ideas can be found by looking at other artists' applications of mediums, engineering and concepts. It's especially exciting when I see someone's work and think, "I wish I made that."

Reading: Reading provides imagery I use as reference material for my own work. Whether the texts are beautifully illustrated or simply well-written, they're often key in shaping ideas for my work.

Decorative Objects: Recently I've been looking at vintage china patterns, anything Baroque, porcelain flowers and decorative paintings of birds to use in my work.

Human Behavior: I'm amazed and dismayed on a daily basis by the actions of people -- myself included. There's much material to bring to the work table through human observation.

Sketchbooks: I illustrate much of my life in a sketchbook. I look to my sketchbook as a starting point for almost every new piece of work I create; it's a good way to record my own history in the process.

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Articulations offers five things important to one of Cincinnati's visual artists.