Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacy Kuropata.
Stacy, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Ever since I was a child, I knew I wanted to be an artist. I was constantly creating with whatever I could get my hands on. My parents enrolled me in art classes at a young age and by the time I reached college I was determined to receive my painting degree. I was taking a variety of art courses at the University of Houston during this time. When I wasn’t painting, I lived in the ceramics lab.
When I failed twice to be accepted into the painting program, I was encouraged by my ceramics instructor to pursue sculpture instead. I took her advice and found that while painting was a stressful and meticulous process for me, working with clay was freeing, meditative, and fulfilling. The fine details I dreaded incorporating into my paintings became a haven of creativity for me in clay. I was able to understand and express my ideas much more cohesively in a three-dimensional format. I entered my first ceramics exhibition and never looked back. While I still occasionally work with watercolor today, I see the process less as painting and more as creating a two-dimensional backdrop or environment for my three-dimensional pieces to grow and interact in. Now I work with clay almost every day of the week, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I work primarily in clay to create sculpture and functional pottery. I use stoneware clay to create my forms, and then I adorn the surfaces of my pieces with intricate carving and three-dimensional elements. I finish my pieces with stains and glazes to add pops of color.
I create because I have to. I know that is something that many artists and creative individuals say, but it really is true. Making art and working with clay is my air, my food. I find myself completely lost in what I’m doing, and if I go a few days without making my work, I can feel a noticeable restlessness and loss of fulfillment. My husband notices it too! It’s something I do because I’ve never not done it. Making art has been as natural to me as talking since I can remember.
The inspiration behind my work has always been the forms and patterns found in antiquities from all around the world. Sometimes that inspiration is more evident, and other times it fades into the background of what I am doing. The level of visual presentation of this particular inspiration fluxes as my work evolves and changes, but it is always present. My goal is to remind myself and others that we all come from somewhere, we all have stories and are influenced by our pasts. I want to celebrate the rich history of all people from all over the world, I want to celebrate humanity and our history, our connectedness, our stories and myths and truths.
Right now, I am in a period where the ancient inspiration is more prevalent in my work. The biggest compliment someone can give me on my work is to say, “That looks like you dug it up out of the earth.”
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I do not think the role of artists has changed. I believe there has always been things happening in this world that inspire artists to create. Whether those things are good or bad, from the beginning of history there has never been a time when artists didn’t have something to say. I think too often we dismiss early artists as crude and unrefined, when it may be that they were trying something new stylistically and expressing the way they saw the world around them using a very specific and deliberate artistic vocabulary. Artists have always had the role of expressing what they see around them in a way that is unique to them. Artists have always deliberately chosen how to depict what their eyes and hearts see. This has not changed.
I wouldn’t say that events in particular inspire my work. I would say that history as a whole inspires my work. Locally that may take the shape of the textures, colors, plants, and animals I depict in my pieces. As a native Texan, I am inspired by the colors and textures of the Southwest. I am in love with this landscape, and I believe the carvings I incorporate into my work are directly inspired by the topographical wonders of the Southwest that I have grown up adoring. I have made works that incorporate the colors of the desert sky, the giant agave plants that thrive in our arid environments, and even the cattle that so many Texans have raised. On a more global scale, I am deeply inspired by art history and the changes and fluctuations that took place specifically in the prehistoric periods of this earth. The stories of ancient humans across the globe and their modern descendants are the driving energy behind my creations. The artwork we unearth from ancient civilizations are literal books that tell the stories of the people who made them. My goal is to create work that will someday tell my story and the story of where I come from.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
As of right now, the best way to see my finished work is on my website. For sneak peeks of my work and to watch my pieces in progress, you can visit my Instagram. The best way to support my work is to email me directly or visit my Etsy page. I hope to have more of my work shown in shops and galleries around Houston in the near future.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stacykuropata.com
- Phone: 8322863805
- Email: kuropottery@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kuropottery/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kuropottery/
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/kuropottery
Image Credit:
Stacy Kuropata
Chris Jackson
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