Maria A. Wickwire, Sculptor

I work with the most elemental of materials: clay, story, and human form. Clay is the oldest material we humans have used to express ourselves. Perhaps only our stories are older. And even before we began to tell our stories, there were our bodies, standing as witness to our lives and recording every experience in the cells of our bodies, the way the rings of a tree record its life story. By tracing the rings, a person can map the growth of the tree -- the years of draught, fire, and flourishing. The markings on my sculptural forms express how life writes its story into our bodies, which we could also read in each other, if we only knew how to look.

Rather than beginning with a story or concept in mind, I start to play with the clay and watch as the sculpture takes shape in my hands, intuitively responding to her and even being guided by her. As she emerges, I feel as if I am simply a conduit that allows her to step forth to tell her story. The process of making sculpture is, for me, a creative journey, a quest for discovering the stories that bring meaning to my own life. Once the sculpture is finished, my job is to watch and listen until her story and her name reveal themselves. Sometimes a sculpture will wait, nameless, for a long time until I am led to the story she came to tell. I am always amazed that the stories about growth and creativity, intuition and courage, discovered through this process, have been told in cultures all over the world, separated by time and geography, but like dreams, archetypes common to people everywhere.

Each sculpture must go through an arduous process to become who she is. She begins as a soft and malleable, formless lump of clay. As I build her, using a coil method, the earliest layers must gradually become strong enough to support the new growth that will be added. Finally, she must acquire glaze patinas and pass through several firings, where she is heated up to 2200 degrees and her very body is transformed. During the firings, her body shrinks and moves, melts and glows, until she has changed completely and can nevermore be the undefined lump of clay she once was. However delicate she may appear, she has become incredibly strong and able to weather extreme cold or heat. To me, her metamorphosis is not unlike the story of a human life. We are all in the process of creating ourselves, passing through the crucibles of our life experience and emerging stronger each time, but carrying with us the beautiful marks of courage we have earned along the way.

Shows and Awards

"State of Mind," ONDA Gallery, NE Alberta St., Portland, OR, Sept. 25 - Oct. 28, 2008.

Art in the Pearl, Portland, OR, August 30-Sep. 1, 2008.

Monarch Sculpture Park Tenth Anniversary Exhibit, Tenino, WA, Summer 2008

People's Choice Award: Lake Oswego Foundation for the Arts Gallery Without Walls, "Anillos," SW Corner of 1st and "A", Lake Oswego, OR, 2007

Lake Oswego Art in the Heart, Lake Oswego, OR, 2007

Lake Oswego Foundation for the Arts Gallery Without Walls, "Anillos," SW Corner of 1st and "A", Lake Oswego, OR, 2006

Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts Chronicle Invitational Exhibit, Lakewood Center, Lake Oswego, OR, 2006

XX: A Show of Women's Art, Sixth Street Gallery, Vancouver, WA, 2005

Up Close in Pink, presented by the Susan B Komen Race for the Cure®, Portland, OR, 2005

Sixth Street Gallery,  Vancouver, WA, 2005

Sunday Art in the Ploza, Lake Oswego, OR 2005

Buckman Art Show and Sell, Portland, OR, 2005

First Place Award Winner, Southern Oregon Sculpture Exhibit 2005, Grants Pass Museum of Art, Grants Pass, OR, 2005

Northwest Artist Showcase, Sixth Street Gallery, Vancouver, WA, 2005

Portland Performing Arts Center, PNS exhibition, 2003-2006

Life Stories," two person show, Guardino Gallery, Portland, OR, 2004

Portland Open Studios Tour, Portland, OR 2004

Art in the Pearl, Portland, OR, 2003

2000 Purchase Award Winner, Contest sponsored by Georgie’s Ceramics, Portland, OR

Town and Country Garden Fair, Deer Island, OR, 1999

 

Galleries

Sixth Street Gallery,  Vancouver, WA

Guardino Gallery, Portland, OR

Toad Hall, Yachats, OR

Larson-Dinan Gallery, Troutdale, OR

Southwest Gallery, Portland, OR

Design Savvy, Portland, OR

 

Professional Associations

Pacific Northwest Sculptors, Secretary and Board Member

International Sculpture Center, member

 

Education

Art and Design Certificate Candidate, University of California at Santa Cruz

Student of Figure Sculpture with Francisco Salgado, Portland, OR 1997-1999

MAT, Lewis and Clark College, 1993

Teaching Credential, San Jose State University, 1978

BA, University of Santa Clara, 1974                                                                                     

Return to Cygnet Studio                       

Contact Maria