Q: You became known quickly for your work in ceramics and then recently you seem to be focusing on your paintings. Tell us about your switch in focus and how you see the two mediums as far as expressing your vision?
A: I love learning new mediums and techniques to keep engaged and excited about making art. To me, everything is a canvas and there’s infinite possibilities for visual creativity. I was especially attracted to making ceramics because of its functionality. Ceramics has been significant throughout human history for its alchemical transformation of clay, one of the most humble materials, into something that is cherished daily: a beautiful, handmade, utilitarian vessel. Textiles, furniture, clothing, folk art… to me, there’s no hierarchy between beautiful objects for daily use and painting or conceptual art. In fact, it’s a subversive act to reclaim and uplift craft in a world of industry, AI and capitalism.
Q: Who were your early influences in your ceramic career?
A: When I first moved back to New Mexico in 2015 after getting a degree in Interdisciplinary Sculpture with a concentration in Sustainability and Social Practice, I felt drawn to public art and pre-school teaching. Authenticity which preschoolers have, and accessibility which public art has felt important to pursue after receiving a rigorous conceptual art education. I came across a public art ceramicist, Shel Neymark in Embudo New Mexico, who I apprenticed with between 2016 - 2018. Afterwards, I was gifted a ceramics class at a local pottery studio. Once I started illustrating the ceramics, surprisingly everyone wanted to buy the pottery, while the paintings weren’t getting as much of a response. All the while though, I was developing my painting techniques and as I started showing at Hecho A Mano, I was able to devote more time to works on paper. Oil painting was once a passion of mine, and this is the first time in 10 years since using oils and canvas.
With oils, you can capture more depth than with gouache which tends to be more illustrative. All the mediums weave together and inform one another, for me there’s not necessarily a hierarchy, it’s like they’re all different musical parts creating a choir. In one oil painting I painted bowls inspired by my illustrated ceramics, and in another gouache painting, I carved small stamps to use as wallpaper and fabric patterns.
“Paula Wilson’s approach to unlimited creativity, with no distinction between art and life as I see it, is validating. Likewise, Hecho A Mano’s approach to creating a space that is both a gallery and shop, echoes how I feel about my work: art is about limitless expression, and breaking out of the box.”
Q: Your paintings combine a child-like sense of wonder and innocence with frequent visitors from the natural world. Tell us about how you view your paintings and what you are trying to get across through them.
A: I see the paintings as reflections of how I engage with the world, my values especially for tenderness and deep listening, and creating what I want to see more of. Nature is miraculous, and every day is unique. I’d like my paintings to foster and deepen a relationship of curiosity with the natural world. Curiosity is a remedy for so many physiological and relational ailments. I’ve heard it said that curiosity is actually the opposite of depression. I want adults to reconnect with the beautiful way of experiencing the world like we were children: having an innate sense of wonder and awe, and naturally receptive to animals and play. Tending to your youthful heart is a way to move forward with beauty and kindness when the world feels oppressive.
Q: The title of this new show is Memento Vivere. Tell us where that comes from and how it relates to this group of work.
A: Memento Vivere translates as remember to live. The expression is directly inspired by Memento Mori, which is the practice of meditating on your death to feel more alive. Not to be morbid, but the only definitive part of life is death. I think daily about deaths that are preventable: from war, the devastation of climate change on species, over extraction, the death of exquisitely unique cultures and languages… Beautiful expressions, stories and ways of life become lost and forgotten because of colonialism, modernity, gentrification and capitalism. To preserve what you care about requires presence and celebration. Making these paintings takes deep attention to each detail of the subjects I’m painting. And as I work, I feel steeping in gratitude. Many of the subjects in the paintings in this show are personal to me. The narratives I created with the subjects are fictitious, but as I paint a friend, or coyote I’ve seen, I feel grateful for the encounter, and the wisdom that everything is fleeting, makes me feel even more grateful for our community: people, animals and ecosystem alike.
Q: Tell us about your residency in Oaxaca and how that has influenced this body of work?
A: I was invited to be a part of the Obracadobra artist residency in Oaxaca for two weeks in November of 2024. Prior to the residency, I had talked to Polvoh Press about collaborating on a Risograph book. I’ve long admired their work since seeing it at Hecho A Mano, where our work is both exhibited. While I was in Oaxaca for the residency we met in person and I got to visit their studio, experience the community directly, and immerse myself daily in the uniquely rich cultural sphere of Oaxaca City. I started creating gouache paintings at the residency for the book, designed with vibrant Risograph reproduction in mind. All the illustrations represent my experience of the landscape, flora and vibrant cultural environment that has been created by generations of interplay between the fine art and folk art world in Oaxaca City, a community that Polvoh Press plays a meaningful role in. Each page is a different story of the vivid tapestry of colors of the day to day, abundance of craftsmanship for daily use, and overall: the vibrant cultural landscape of Oaxaca.
Q: What's next? more ceramics? paintings? What is catching your artistic attention lately?
A: Next month, I’m working on paintings to be in a summer group exhibition at Visions West Contemporary in Bozeman, Montana. I’ll have a few pieces in the Southwest Contemporary online benefit auction (May 23-June 7) held in conjunction with the in-person Art Party fundraiser on Friday, June 6, in Santa Fe. Also in June, I’m participating in a residency with Hungarian theater and film director Martin Boross and singer/performer Tara Khozein at Q Staff theater in Albuquerque. In October, I’ll have a piece in the curated group show, Sound and Vision at Hecho A Mano. I’ll also be making more ceramic mugs and sculptural ceramics to bring to Hecho A Mano, and for art markets down the road. In November, I’ll be a part of the Obracadobra artist residency again. As far as what’s been catching my artistic attention lately, I’ve been especially interested in oil painters so I’ll probably be making more oil paintings as well!
Studio photos by Tori Nicole & Jordan Wax