Marina Kuchinski

In my work, animal and human forms reflect on the posthuman condition. I investigate the human experience, the animal experience, and the way animals have been perceived and treated, drawing from both historical and contemporary contexts. When using animal subjects, I strive to understand animal idiosyncrasies and depict the way they communicate through their body and gaze. I seek for the congruities that exist between animal dispositions and our own, and the way they prevail through our physical form. By deconstructing differences between humans and other species, animals and objects, nature and contemporary society, I aim to discover counteractions and challenges in our existence. Postcolonial studies, animal studies, and feminist ecology inspire me to move beyond an anthropocentric point of view to explore my humanity and animality that prevails within my own nature. Positioning elements that put forth conflict of purpose in binary opposition is an invitation to contemplate why things are the way they are and what would happen if they change. Transformation of objects can shift the way they are viewed through changes in scale, material, color, or the way they are positioned in space. Correlations of human, animal, and ready-made forms can reveal the complexity of our encounters—what do we find disturbing, humorous, tragic, or pleasing?

Marina Kuchinski is a visual artist practicing in ceramics, mixed media and installation. She primarily handbuilds and sometimes slip-casts animal and human forms. Animal and human subjects are used to explore various issues, be they social or psychological. Kuchinski exhibited extensively throughout the United States and abroad in solo and group exhibitions, including The State Museum of Pennsylvania, The Plains Art Museum, San Diego Art Institute, European Cultural and Technological Centre in Slovenia, Beit Aharon Kahana in Israel, American Museum of Ceramic Art, The International Museum of Dinnerware Design, Palmer Museum of Art, Koehnline Museum of Art, Kohler Arts Center, Weston Art Gallery, and premiere NCECA exhibitions, including the NCECA Biennial and NCECA Annual. Publications include Ceramics Monthly, Ceramics Art and Perception, Ceramics Now Magazine, The Boston Globe and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Kuchinski received numerous grants and awards, including Jerome and McKnight grants, juried exhibitions, and was a guest artist at a number of colleges and universities. Kuchinski has been an artist-in-residence at the Kohler Arts Center, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Chester Springs Studio, Northern Clay Center, New Harmony Clay Project, and Punch Projects. She earned her BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and her MFA from Penn State University. Kuchinski is a Professor of Art at the College of DuPage living in the Chicago area.