Marilyn Richeda

Marilyn Richeda

http://marilynricheda.com

Artist Statement:

As an artist exploring human emotions and experiences through my ceramic figurative sculptures, striving to make work that meaningfully reflects the human condition.  There is a fine line and a delicate balance which is sometimes difficult to navigate; learning how to steer the ship in art and life, crashes and all. When we are vulnerable and show our flaws, that's when people lean in and connect on a deeper level, this is what I want the viewer to experience.

Although my figures are pared-down minimalist in outside appearance, I mean for them to have complicated and subtle inner lives.  For me, they carry the heavy weight of emotional fragility. I scratch and scar the clay both literally and metaphorically to capture the essence of these figures.  They are simultaneously grotesque, beautiful, repulsive and mesmerizing. The figures I create, some creepy and dark, are not to be found on the street, but rather in one's imagination or dreams creating an alternate universe.

My process is without preconceived plans just a thought and feeling following one after the other to become an idea...changing directions as forms emerge to find an idea free from judgment. From this a world of myth and symbols are created. Observing these creations as they emerge, one learns to understand what has been stated. Through this understanding, I see moments that coincide with life.

Wondering how to live in the world with others....this is my way of speaking through my art, my way of being in the world.

My work is hand built earthenware using coils and slabs, brushed on underglazes and glazes. Once fired to cone 05 oxidation in a gas kiln. Layered with texture and color. Minimal, other worldly and mysterious.