Linda S. Fitz Gibbon

Website:

www.lindasfitzgibbon.com 

Artist Statement:

My ceramic sculptures are often inspired by the bounty of produce grown in the fertile Central Valley. I am captivated by the unusual forms that develop from nature, whether it be the curves, colors, and patterns on the surface of produce or the seeds just beneath the skin. I love the way fruits and vegetables are tied to culture, history, and nourishment through recipes, myth, and storytelling. There are often references to historic china patterns associated with women’s tea service, contrasting their fragility with action figures, inflatables, and toys.

The series displayed in this exhibition reflects on how we raise our children using stereotypes of gender and race. Like Pop Art, the everyday items tend to be scaled up and used as contrasting symbols of nature vs nurture and the natural vs plastic environment. They are not strictly “trompe l’oeil” because the forms are hand built, without the use of molds, to allow the artist’s hand to be evident upon close inspection. 

Biography:

Born in NY, Linda S. Fitz Gibbon lives and works in Northern CA. She has an MFA in Visual Arts from the Art Institute of Boston/Lesley University, and BA Cum Laude from Yale University. Artist Residencies include the Vermont Studio Center 2019 and 2017 and Anderson Ranch Art Center, CO in 2010. Linda is an Art Professor at Cosumnes River College, Sacramento, and a Teaching Artist at Esparto Elementary School where she runs the Tk-5th grade ceramics program through YoloArts.  

Fitz Gibbon’s artwork is in the collections of the Crocker Art Museum and the UC Davis Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, CA; the Arizona State University Museum, Tempe; the Butler Institute of American Art, OH; and the Yale University Art Gallery, CT. Publications include Confrontational Ceramics, 500 Figures in Clay: Volumes I & II, Ceramics Art and Perception, and Ceramics Monthly.