Originally from Mexico City, Toronto-based artist Gracia Isabel, is an honours Sheridan College’s Crafts and Design Ceramics graduate. She explores themes related to colonialism and migration through functional and sculptural pieces. A few of her exhibiting highlights include: the Gardiner Museum, Sin Fronteras Monarch Butterfly Project (2019), Craft Ontario Gallery, The Body has Reasons which Reason Knows Not Of, 2019, the Embassy of Canada in Hungary, Muscle Memory Exhibit, 2018. She won the TOAE Best of Sculpture award in 2016. In 2020, she created CLAY Voices Ceramics Symposium and WEMAJU contest on Instagram (@clayvoices), as a response to COVID restrictions.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am interested in exploring themes related to colonialism and migration. By using cultural symbols, I want to recall hidden information and blocked reminiscences. My goal is to trigger a personal and collective witness response using a universal signifier that intimately resonates for all cultures. The aim is to help heal the wounds of the past and produce personal and social awareness. My interpretation of the creative process as a continuum, forces me to explore utility, artistic expression and multiple techniques in my functional and non-functional work.
2021/2022
