Renata Cassiano Alvarez

The core of my practice for the past few years has been the transformation of the historical role ceramic materials have in the ceramic process. When this role is changed, it is possible realize a physical metamorphosis of the elements. At the center, I am teaching ceramic glaze a new language. A material that historically has been entrusted with surface decoration is able to become the structure of the sculpture itself. The result is a material with a new sentience, an outcome that does not resemble glaze as we traditionally know it, but rather a new vision with an expanded concept of possibility.

-- Renata Cassiano Alvarez

Renata Cassiano Alvarez is a Mexican-Italian artist born in México City. Cassiano Alvarez works predominantly in the medium of clay but her background in painting and drawing takes a big part in her artistic practice. She holds a BFA from the Universidad Veracruzana, in México, and a MFA from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Over the years, she has had the opportunity to work in different clay environments from a ceramics factory in the north of Italy, a research center in Denmark and with artists such as Nina Hole and Gustavo Pérez. Her work has been exhibited in México, USA, Denmark, Cuba, Japan, Australia, China and Hungary and can be found in public collections in Estonia, Taiwan, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, China and Slovenia. She currently works as faculty and studio technician at the University of Arkansas School of Art.