MARIANA ALZAMORA
Mariana Alzamora is part of the Alzamora and Good family matriarchal trio, living and working in Majorca. The ancient and mythological tales that Mariana uses as source material for her ceramics and paintings are stories of female empowerment, a fitting motif for an artist who is surrounded by her closest female relatives.
She finds herself constantly returning to the simplicity of clay to create her round forms of wholeness and completion. The relationship between her works and ancient history is reiterated in the use of clay that has been ground by pre-historic glaciers surrounding great granite rocks.
When coiling the clay, layer by layer to form her pieces, she likens it to the silver serpent from the Garden of Aluseo, a symbol of nature’s wisdom and vigor, seeking to evolve towards fulfilment. The coils of clay create an emptiness which Mariana deems more of a presence than the clay that defines this void. The vessels are full of possibilities and contain a space longing for fulfilment.
When the hollow is almost enclosed, the surface, or ‘skin’ of the vessel takes on further significance. Mariana burnishes and ally’s the microscopic clay discs in order to reflect the light, imbuing the vessels with impermeability and resilience.
She finds herself constantly returning to the simplicity of clay to create her round forms of wholeness and completion. The relationship between her works and ancient history is reiterated in the use of clay that has been ground by pre-historic glaciers surrounding great granite rocks.
When coiling the clay, layer by layer to form her pieces, she likens it to the silver serpent from the Garden of Aluseo, a symbol of nature’s wisdom and vigor, seeking to evolve towards fulfilment. The coils of clay create an emptiness which Mariana deems more of a presence than the clay that defines this void. The vessels are full of possibilities and contain a space longing for fulfilment.
When the hollow is almost enclosed, the surface, or ‘skin’ of the vessel takes on further significance. Mariana burnishes and ally’s the microscopic clay discs in order to reflect the light, imbuing the vessels with impermeability and resilience.
