Andrea Marquis, Candlestick Pair, USA, 2023

Renowned for her technique of pushing visual and technical boundaries, Andrea Marquis’ artistic practice centers on challenging the substance and value of decoration against the function of sculpture. Vacillating between utility and pure aesthetics, her work possesses an abstract quality that encourages subjective interpretation.

For over a decade, Marquis has been working with clay, fashioning tangible embodiments of shadows, reflections, traces, imprints, boundaries, and apertures. Taking a nod from architecture, she transforms thick slabs of clay into gravity-defying forms that are both lacy and robust. The compositions for her sculptures begin as traced drawings of plant shadows, often grown in her own garden. These layered composite drawings surround her in her studio, becoming a lexicon of image fragments. Through deliberate manipulation and experimentation with various compositions, Marquis skillfully pivots and reconfigures her traced drawings, evoking a Rorschach-like harmony. Over time, context emerges as a blueprint for intricate volumetric forms. While her reductive carving is incredibly precise, her use of loosely applied glazes softens the sharpness of her cut edges, imparting an element of fluidity to the overall composition. While Marquis approaches her artistic practice with clear intentions and a well-defined vision, she enthusiastically embraces the creative imagination and varied interpretations elicited by her work.

Stoneware, Glaze

18h x 15w x 5d in

45.72h x 38.10w x 12.70d cm