MFA VISUAL ART
Maria Conlon
Highlighted within Conlon’s ceramic work is a desire to remember and re-engage with the surrounding environment. From the collection of oak leaves whose impressions influence the textured surface of many of her sculptures to the visible cracks that characterize others, her ceramic works become a record of time and a celebratory experience of engaging with the natural world. Mirroring how nature undergoes its own visible changes, Conlon’s ceramic sculpture changes and adopts new surfaces that are reinterpreted through the ceramic firing process.
Within this series, the ceramic dog becomes a self-portrait for Conlon. The animal, not quite an exact depiction of the artist’s own dog, carries a layered symbolism. Reflecting emotional connection, Conlon’s dogs embody a formidable presence and a sense of care, emphasized through the textured ceramic form. The dog, typically seen as a figure of loyalty and companionship, is also often used as a tool in systems of power and control. Conlon uses the fluid identity and symbolism of the dog to explore the different layers of her own identity, and the emotional connection evoked by the canine companion.
Conlon’s ceramic sculptures explore the multifaceted meanings of the everyday environment that color our personal experiences. The leaves scattered on the ground, the small forms that reappear on a daily walk. Conlon absorbs the interconnectedness between memories, people and objects, piecing them together in tangled and growing knots.
— Cynthia Hodge-Thorne, OSU Department of History of Art, PhD Student