Ceramic artist, Celina Hernandez, is interviewed by Art Criticism student, Hannah Comstock, at Texas State University.
Hannah Comstock: “Ok, let’s start off with- what would you say your artwork’s theme or recurring ideas are if there are any?”
Celina Hernandez: “I think at the moment it does have a theme. I think what’s recurring in my work is material displacement. And I work a lot with domestic objects. So, I work sculpturally in ceramics and I make a lot of work about domestic household items. They all have their own kind of story to them, but put together in a display or installation, they work together. I feel like everyones so wrapped up in having this cohesive body of work and for me, if I don’t focus so hard on it it just kind of happens.”
H: “Agreed, would you say there’s a deeper meaning in those domestic household items that you can identify with, or is it more art for arts sake? And would you say that your upbringing or childhood has caused you to attach meaning to those items and incorporate them into your work?”
C: “I think it does have more of a meaning. I think it comes from the way I feel about objects and how I have an attachment to them. A lot of the objects I make are personal to me and my identity because I am Mexican American and most of my family lives in Mexico. A lot of the objects are about them, from them, still in Mexico, things that I used in my childhood or things brought back from visiting them. So, they’re just personal to me and I can attach a personal or sentimental meaning to them. The things that I choose to focus on making are things that can change based on the material of the object, too, and I think that’s what I’ve been playing on in my work.”
H: “And do you think that changing the medium or material would affect the message your work conveys, since the objects you make are so specific to your experience?”
C: “It changes the meaning in that you don’t have to be Mexican American or Mexican to understand what the items are, but they could mean something different to the person based on their experiences. I think that you can still find interest in the objects because a lot of the time the objects are not specific to my culture, they’re just things I grew up around. Sometimes it can be really personal to my culture, but the material itself and what clay type I use can have meaning and will change the object completely. I can make something in porcelain and that makes it very fragile and pure. Choosing specific clay types goes back to the history of ceramics and how or what they were used for. I want to play with different materials to make the meaning change depending on the object, not just change the object itself.”
H: “So you’re almost attaching meaning to not only the work itself but also the materials and even the artmaking process or techniques that can go into making an artwork?”
C: “Yes, I always say that I think ceramics just sort of happened to me, I just started in it and then I just kept working in it. But I think that when I am working in ceramics- or even in metals- it can affect the meaning of the finished artwork.”
H: “Absolutely. That being said, do you ever break the cycle of routine in your art making and branch out into other mediums or explore different themes? Or do you stick mostly to ceramics and focusing on making things that reflect memorabilia from your childhood or what you grew up around?”
C: “So yeah, lately this semester has been one of exploration for me in my classes. I’ve been trying to venture out into… I don’t know, like a new concept. I love to focus on the objects from my childhood but my focus has changed a couple times this semester for certain projects. Like what I am working on right now is a clay cardboard box that appears to be full, but the top is covered by a cloth. It’s all ceramic, even the cloth and everything, and with that I kind of played with the elusiveness of what could be in the box. I wanted people to wonder- ‘what’s in the box? Is it a moving box? Is it an abandoned box or something?’ It’s just the uncertainty and wanting to know what’s in the box that is interesting for me. Only I know what objects are in the box- or if there are any at all. I covered it and there is no way to uncover it because it’s fired and it’s done. So, in that work I played with that mystery and uncertainty for the audience to have which is not something I typically experiment with at all.”
H: “And how did they react to that uncertainty? Do your peers respond more to your typical work or this particular project where you branched out and added in some uncertainty?”
C: “My audience in the critique had a reaction of ‘I don’t like that, I don’t know why you covered it.’ They wanted to uncover it, which I found super interesting.
H: “I love that you chose ceramics for that. I think when trying to create mystery or uncertainty in artwork, my mind goes to a 2D artwork because it would be easier to achieve but I really like that you tackled it working in 3D, I think it’s super successful.”
C: “Yah, thank you!”
H: “So this one you kind of already answered, but I was gonna ask again to give you a chance to expand on it if you wanted to- do you feel like your upbringing has any impact on the way you make your artwork, and if yes, how so?”
C: “I think definitely storytelling because a lot of my previous work would come from stories my parents would tell me from their upbringings and stuff that I have found interest in. So yes, stuff like that, I like to make work about storytelling or metaphors in my culture.
H: “That’s a neat way of incorporating some of your childhood in. A lot of the questions I have left are things you’ve already answered along the way so this is going great! Thanks so much for answering thoughtfully so far!”
C: “Haha, yah absolutely!”
H: “Alright this can be one of the last questions. What do you think others think of your artwork? Have they ever told you that they relate to it, understand it or like/dislike it? I know you kind of touched on the box’s critique briefly but I wasn’t sure if you wanted to expand on that any more?”
C: “I definitely think the most memorable one was the box. I introduced the idea to my classmates because we had multiple critiques throughout the semester and I introduced the idea during the planning process. They all suggested that I leave a little bit of the top or side uncovered so they could peek in, I didn’t like that so I didn’t do it. I completed the box and then we had the final critique afterwards and I showed them. Everybody was like, ‘well, you know the technical is great, but I wanna know what’s in the box.’ I got that same response from everyone that they wished I had left a little part of it uncovered.”
H: “Well I think it’s respectable that you didn’t take their advice, you know? You can take their criticism or not but really critiques are just for feedback- there’s no obligation to make the change if you don’t want to and you obviously felt it was important to keep it covered.”
C: “Yeah and I think that is kind of difficult when you’re in school and some people don’t really know what direction they are trying to go with things- so it’s helpful for them in that sense. But sometimes when you have this idea of what you want going into it, it doesn’t really matter what anyone is gonna tell you because you’re just gonna do what feels right.”
H: “Yeah, absolutely. Critique settings are just about people giving their opinions, but you don’t have to take them.”
C: “Yeah, it’s like ‘alright I heard you haha, agreed.”
H: “Ok last question I have for you is- what artwork are you most proud of and why? It can be a series of pieces that go together or an individual one, you can choose how you wanna answer that!”
C: “I’m working on something right now that will be my second iteration of a piece I’ve made before. The first one I wasn’t happy about the way it came out so I am remaking it. So yeah, it is a ceramic mirror that I made out of terracotta, and below it is going to be like this flow of water coming down from it, going all the way to the ground. Everything will be ceramic, even the water. The mirror is gonna be covered as well, just like the project I did with the box. The idea to cover it came from this poem that I was reading by Sandra Cisneros and she was talking about mirrors and how in our culture we cover them when we’re in mourning. So, I found that super interesting and when I read that line I started researching why we did this. I wondered what the meaning was and found out that it’s in many cultures, and it has a lot to do with spirituality and traditions. But I just thought it was so interesting, so I wanted to make something with that and that was where that idea came from. I started researching mirrors and found out that the first mirror was just water, it’s from a story on Greek Mythology where a man was looking into the water vainly, then ends up falling in because he can’t stop staring at himself. I decided based on that story that I wanted to incorporate the water with the mirror and that’s how they connect. The idea of mimicking something that doesn’t have form, so in this case water, I thought was so challenging. I’m trying out different things with that now, making so many different iterations of the form of water using ceramics, trying to get that like ripple effect or drip of water. If it turns out well and I’m able to achieve it, I think that will be my proudest piece of artwork.”
H: “That sounds so awesome, I’m gonna need to see it when you’re finished with it! Thank you so much for meeting with me, it’s been such a pleasure getting to talk about your artwork with you!”
C: “Of course, this was great!”