Collection: Holly Curcio - Featured Artist

Artist Statement:

Creating figures out of clay is a personal practice where I strive to find connection with various states of being. I’m not just trying to capture a feeling, I’m stepping inside of it. Figures take on attributes of animals as a way of embodying an emotion more fully. It is comparable to being in a yoga pose, where one can exist for a moment from the inside out. The pieces live somewhere between a real and imagined world. This altered reality creates a place for the internal dialogues to be expressed.

There is a feeling of play when building on a small scale that is reminiscent of playing with dolls. It was one of my favorite things in childhood, to imagine myself acting out the character’s story. This element of play extends from conception to assembly. It begins with pinching soft formless clay, until something takes shape, a posture, an attitude, and it starts to have a life of its own. Glazes act to define and bring out details, but can also behave in a painterly way to evoke a psychological space. Parts are tinkered with, limbs reassembled post-firing and legs screwed securely to bases.

I see these as precious objects likened to a diary entry, or a poem that others are privy to. I feel they belong in the intimate setting of a home, where the viewer can live with and contemplate its presence over time. Humor is an access point for entering the work, which can sometimes evoke a chuckle. On closer inspection, titles give away deeper subject matters, including aspects of grief. My work is about processing emotions and reflections of living. I have always worked with personal narratives, letting the viewer glimpse pieces of the story. My hope is that there are aspects of the work that will feel familiar to the viewer, which rings true to them on another level. 

Bio: 

Holly Curcio is an artist from Massachusetts who explores the narrative art form through ceramic sculptures and comics. She holds a BFA in ceramics from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (1996) and an MFA in ceramics from Arizona State University (2007). She developed her artwork at several artist residencies including: Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Mendocino Art Center, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Carbondale Clay Center and Red Lodge Art Center. She returned to her home state of Massachusetts in 2011 to do a residency at Mudflat Studio in Somerville, where she currently maintains her studio. She currently works as an art restorer of objects by day, balancing her time between sketching comics and sculpting clay.

Find Holly’s Artaxis page: https://artaxis.org/artist/holly-curcio/

Find Holly's Instagram: @hollycurcio