Edition 16
Maria A. Guzmán Capron
06-03-19 - 09-06-19
Stepping into Maria’s studio transports you into a world of colors, textures, and patterns —a place where scale is arbitrary. Filled with fabric, sketches, and small paintings, the space feels domestic but other-worldly, activating your sense of touch, and recalls the intimacy born out of our corporeal connection to textiles.
Born in Italy to Colombian and Peruvian parents, Maria Guzmán Capron lives and works in Oakland, CA. Originally a painter, she graduated with a BFA from the University of Houston in 2004. Craving a medium she could connect with, she taught herself to sew and began working with textiles in 2003, and received her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from California College of the Arts (CCA) here in the Bay Area in 2015.
Her work explores the space between 2D and 3D worlds, ranging in size from a few inches to full room installations and large wall-hangings. The scale begs interaction and personal connection, and the depth of the pieces—with layers upon layers appliqued, embroidered, painted, wire wrapped, and quilted—mimics the layers of human behavior and emotion, referencing humor, curiosity and strength. She keeps her work alive by understanding that it’s always growing and changing and never quite done for good, letting the experience of the viewer add to and complete the work.
For her installation here at JMS, Maria really pushed the scale of her work in response to the space. Given the opportunity to work with our large entryway wall, she created separate parts of a figure in her studio that, when installed, becomes one composite “superhuman” (as she likes to call them) entity, greeting those who enter with spirited and playful eyes.
