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ABOUT/CV
BIOGRAPHY
Rosa Salas is an artist, writer, and curator with vast experience in K-12 curriculum development and Museum Education Outreach. Rosa’s artistic passion lands on her love for ceramic arts, ritualistic vessels, and functional everyday pottery. Born and raised in Maracaibo, Venezuela “La Tierra del Sol Amado” (The Beloved Land of the Sun), Rosa’s roots and memories of growing up in a sunny, cheerful and colorful city influence her work greatly and encourage her to approach art and life in an energetic and playful manner. Rosa graduated in 2020 from The University of Mississippi with a BFA in Studio Arts with an emphasis in Ceramics, while simultaneously teaching art classes as an Education Intern at the University of Mississippi Museum. She believes that art education enriches the lives of families and children and that learning about art can happen as early as infancy. In 2022, Rosa completed her Masters of Art in Teaching with the Mississippi Teacher Corps at the University of Mississippi. During her two years in MTC, Rosa taught Middle School Spanish in the Meridian Public School District and was the Ceramics Instructor at the Mississippi Art+Entertainment Experience art museum in Meridian, MS. After graduating from the Mississippi Teacher Corps, Rosa returned to Oxford, Mississippi to serve as Curator of Education for a year and a half prior to moving to Texas to explore a different southern art scene.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As a functional vessel maker, I am interested in the intimate connection between user and maker, and in making works that are genuine to my personal character and history. I envision my work as energetic, spontaneous, and inviting. Using design elements such as line, asymmetrical balance, color, and pattern, my work strives to create dynamic forms.
I am drawn to functional vessels that are accessible, personal, and invite active interaction. Plates, cups and any other functional ware are made with the intention of making the sharing a meal with other people special and engaging. I hope that in my work I can create not only a fun and interesting presentation for food, but also a vehicle for purposeful and valuable times shared with other people.
My sets for shared meals that have eccentric and unconventional form and shapes inspired by abstraction, Cubist shapes, and whimsical line quality. The works’ graphic style, pattern, and play of symmetry and asymmetry come from historical ceramics from the native Americas, such as Teotihuacan, Mayan, and Mimbres pottery.
My color palette is derived from children's books, toys, and memories of my youth in Venezuela. It finds inspiration in the polychromatic houses in El Saladillo, the beautiful woven hammocks known as Chinchorros, where I would swing as a kid, or the indigenous Wayuu dresses known as Manta Guajira. These remind me of the Venezuelan and Marabino culture and tradition and they also speak to who I am as a person. A rich and vivid color palette allows me to celebrate the playfulness of youth and remind me of child-like joy.