CONNOR CZORA

ABOUT

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CONNORCZORA.COM

CV

BIO

CONNOR CZORA

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American, b. Rochester, NY
lives and works in Washington, D.C.

Connor Czora is an artist, educator, and activist currently based in Washington, DC. Born in Rochester, NY, they received their BFA in Ceramics and Gender Studies from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2019.

Czora’s work explores the relationships between imperial ceramics, cultural taste, and sociopolitical power structures in the United States. Tracing the history of Western decorative arts, their work interrogates how ideologies are embedded and perpetuated within cultural objects.

Czora’s art has been shown and awarded internationally, including features in the 2021 NCECA Annual: Social Recession and Time’s Best Photojournalism of 2020. Previously, Czora has assistant-taught at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and interned at Baltimore Clayworks. Czora currently teaches and works as Creative Director at the District Clay Center.

ON TRENTON VASES

Trenton Vase: Pandemic reimagines a 1904 vase that showcased the U.S. at the St. Louis World’s Fair, asking how America’s responses to Covid-19 might be represented to the world today. Each side of the vase is adorned with decals digitally collaged from news coverage of the pandemic, ranging from the anti-mask protests that swept the nation to exhausted doctors and nurses overwhelmed with patients. Luster gilds the vase with nods to the pandemic, including coronavirus frames and repeating sine waves of the curve we were supposed to flatten. By combining the authority of imperial ceramics with fragmented narratives of the Covid-19 pandemic, I aim to challenge the idea of a fixed, singular history, and suggest instead that we create history together through our accumulated experiences. As we move forward, how will we collectively remember this tragedy and begin to heal?

Trenton Vase: Uprising is the second vase in the Trenton Vase series. Created during the ongoing struggle for racial justice, this vase memorializes those who have been killed by American police, and celebrates those who stand up to demand change. Each side of the vase depicts personal photographs from protests for Black lives in Washington, DC after George Floyd was murdered. Photographed while protesting, myself, these scenes position the viewer as part of the crowds demanding justice and emphasize the need for solidarity. The neck of the vase memorializes the 230 Black people killed nationwide by police in one year since George Floyd’s murder. These include the names of people killed by local police in Washington, DC from 2019-2021, including Deon Kay, 18 years old; Karon Hylton-Brown, 20 years old; Terrance Parker, 36 years old; An’Twan Gilmore, 27 years old; George Watson, 34 years old; and De’Andre Johnson, 30 years old. Showcasing the struggle for racial justice amongst imagery of the prison-industrial complex and materials of opulence, I hope to challenge America’s self-portrayal as a shining city upon a hill. How can we dismantle white supremacy and truly become a nation of liberty and justice for all?

Trenton Vase: Disaster is the third vase in the Trenton Vase series. Created from 2020-2021, this piece responds to the ever-increasing natural disasters wrought by climate change in America. Each side of the vase depicts digitally-fabricated collages of natural disasters in the contemporary United States. Sourced from media coverage of extreme weather events, the collages touch on storms spanning from the rampaging Dixie Fires in the West to the devastation of Hurricane Ida in the East. These storms rage amidst imagery of American extractive industries, including pipelines, oil wells, and the spacecraft that billionaires fly for pleasure. Juxtaposing the wealth of capitalist industry with the devastation it brings, I ask, What are the ramifications of endless extraction on a planet with limited resources? Who is held accountable, and who faces the consequences?

Trenton Vase: Empire is the final vase in the Trenton Vase series. Built in 2021, the vase remained unglazed until 2023, when Israel launched its ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip. Each side of the vase depicts protests against the US role in the genocide. Taken while participating, myself, these photographs position the viewer in the crowds demanding an end to the occupation. Golden barbed wire encircles the protestors, while an inverted Palestinian kufiya suggests a chain link fence around the vase’s neck. At the base, media photographs of the human toll are surrounded by keys of return, each collaged from logos of US weapons manufacturers that profit from the bloodshed. By framing resistance to colonialism in luxury materials, I trace the connections between US militarism abroad and the accumulation of wealth at home. How many deaths are we willing to live with?

ON THEIR WORK

My work explores the relationships between imperial ceramics, cultural taste, and sociopolitical power structures in the United States. Tracing the history of Western decorative arts, my work interrogates how ideologies are embedded and perpetuated within cultural objects.

Frequently working in porcelain, I draw inspiration from baroque and rococo European and American ceramics. The extravagant forms, overglaze scenery, and delicate gilding of such pieces embody opulence and authority. In my practice, I juxtapose this luxury with the material struggles of the contemporary United States. Exploiting our cultural notion of the decorative as docile, I disarm viewers through ornament to foster discussions of sensitive subjects in communities that may ignore them otherwise. These motifs span from resistance to repressive governments and the commodification of protest movements to the social construction and performance of gender and class.

My methods of making often contrast traditional studio processes, such as wheel- throwing, with expanded media, such as digitally-fabricated ceramic decals. Through these productive disparities, my techniques further explore the thematic tensions that are created and exposed within my work.

Framing contemporary struggles for justice and equity through historical decorative aesthetics, I challenge our understanding of the past and our role in creating a more just future.

PAST EXHIBITIONS

PLATITUDE: Queer Serviceware
Curated by ADAM CHAU

2024 | Group Exhibition at A.P.E Gallery | Northampton, MA

April 19, 2024 – May 26, 2024

Scheduled to coincide with Northampton’s annual Pride celebrations, PLATITUDE looks at contemporary queer life in America through the form of ceramic serviceware.

View the exhibition page HERE

OUR AMERICA/WHOSE AMERICA?

2024 | Group Exhibition in the Wickham House at the Valentine Museum | Richmond, VA

February 20, 2024 – April 21, 2024

Our America/Whose America? Is a “call and response” exhibition between contemporary artists and historic ceramic objects.

View the exhibition page HERE

INQUIRE

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Additional works may be available to acquire, but not listed here.