ARTIST SHOWCASE: CHRISTINA ERIVES AND AMY SHINDO

CHRISTINA ERIVES

DESAYUNO, 2016

earthenware

Christina Erives creates objects that reflect the traditional artistic techniques of her Mexican heritage in part because she hopes to prevent the processes from being lost.

“Through the use of various objects I hope to render a narrative that seeks to embrace and celebrate these rituals of a new generation,” she explains. “I enjoy seeing these objects evolve through the use of clay just as a story of an event can change over time in the ways of telling it. Ceramics as a material has permanence; it is one of the ways we were able to learn about ancient cultures. There is beauty in these traditions and my aim is to make a mark in my time that will be preserved in the history of ceramic objects.”

Erives earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from California State University and her Master of Fine Arts from Pennsylvania State University. She was a visiting artist at Kansas City Art Institute and a resident artist at Red Star Studios in Kansas City, Mo., and was Mexican Ceramics special artist-in-residence at the Arquetopia Foundation in Puebla, Mexico, among others. Erives currently teaches at Belger Arts Center in Kansas City, Mo.

AMY SHINDO

NINE ZERO ONE, 2017

Stoneware

Amy Shindo builds upon her culinary experience to create art from what others might shrug off as mundane.

“My work investigates the subtle intersections of life, labour, sensation and creativity to question how objects and ritual can add new dimensions to the mundane,” she explains.

“I methodically approach my chosen materials, which often bear little or no resemblance to the products they will become. My aim is to transform the raw into experiences that reflectively highlight the potential hidden in things, and add freshness to life.”

Raised in a restaurant family and with formal training in the culinary arts, the Ontario, Canada, native often combines her culinary and clay interests. She studied ceramics at Sheridan College in Ontario, and served as Artist in Residence at the Ceramic Arts Research Centre, at the University of Sunderland, England.