MARISSA ALEXANDER

Through the creation of ceramics, Marissa Alexander attempts to create a sense of what is physically familiar to her. The organic qualities of a form – its curves and articulations, the proximity of its parts to one another, and of forms to each other – allow her to examine relationships.  She tries to turn fleeting emotions into permanent notations of experience. 

The elements that exist along side our bodies – the architecture we occupy, the landscapes we become a part of, the people we encounter – have the potential to shape our very being. Alexander closely observes how people relate to one another or other things, how we control personal space around us, gravitate toward, and encounter other objects.  She is fascinated by how we reveal such experiences through body language – by the way we might fall into each other, or recoil at the very thought. 

When she is in the studio, working with tactile clay, Alexander is able to intimately experience objects and ideas.  Material and process are central to her ceramics practice and she aims to make things that engage herself, other people, and other objects.

Originally from Hamilton, Marissa Alexander is a ceramic artist working out of Toronto, Ontario. She holds a BA in Sociology from McMaster University and received her Diploma in Craft and Design in Ceramics from Sheridan College in 2014. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto.

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