Statement
My ceramic research deals with the exploration of the word, “Alien”. Through this inquiry my artwork looks into the wide spectrum of meanings, associations, stigmas and or emotions derived from this word. While also addressing the historical, cultural, and current socio-political aspects the word, “Alien”, means in society.
Understanding the parallels in my life, from my love for space aliens to the experience in being an Alien in the United States, has forced me to analyze the definition of being either from “out of space”, foreign, or just alienated from myself and society.
Using diverse ceramic processes, I create Alien”, objects, in precarious form that are sugarcoated in colorful and inviting exteriors for the viewer to discover hidden meanings between the relationships of each object and the viewer. I employ a playful arrangement of elements with these objects to evoke a sense of displacement and not-belonging to spark a deeper understanding from each work of art.
— María Alarcón Aldrete Wolf
Bio
María Alarcón Aldrete Wolf was born and raised in Culiacán, Sinaloa, México. María received her Bachelors degree in Interior Design from the University of Sinaloa (UNITESIN). In 2013 she moved to the United States and relocated to Manhattan, Kansas for graduate school at Kansas State University. Maria received an MS in Art Education with a focus in Curriculum and Instruction with a minor in Small Metals and Jewelry Design. While at Kansas State she started to also work in ceramics. Wolf continued her focus on ceramic materials and received her MA and MFA in Ceramics with minors in Painting and Sculpture from the University of Iowa in 2020. Maria is the recipient of the Virgil M. Beal and Margaret P. Park scholarships. Her work has been included in exhibitions at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis and most recently at The Baltimore Clayworks in Maryland. In 2018, María Alarcón Aldrete Wolf work was presented at NADA Miami with a solo booth exhibition with Galería Mascota.