RAYMON ELOZUA

ON HIS WORK

Both my parents were immigrants. My father was an illegal Cuban immigrant who nonetheless fought in the US Army during WWII, serving for 25 years and retiring as a Master Sergeant. My mother was a French war bride who survived the German invasion and civilian conscription, which emotionally scarred her entire life.

I was raised in the presence of these two different cultures, which were overshadowed by the dominant culture of the USA. Growing up in this ‘melting pot’ of America imbued me with a fluid, restless identity.

To that point, I am a college drop-out. I have worked as a batting machine operator, hardware store clerk, library book stacker,  babysitter, house painter, junkman, auto body painter, band roadie, macrobiotic baker, caterer, truck driver, theatrical carpenter, prop maker, construction contractor, landlord, potter, college art instructor, art consultant, property manager and local historian. I am a self-educated artist, not exactly a role model for college students; nonetheless I taught at the college level for many years.

Given my background, I see no reason in swearing a fealty to one medium, ceramic or otherwise. This work, like my personal history, combines three different mediums to create a cohesive aesthetic whole. I think this mirrors my own identity. The personal psychology of the work is echoed in the marriage of dissimilar materials whose only commonality is fire and heat. Embedded in this work is the resonance of my family.

Steel :: Strength :: Father

Ceramic :: Emotion :: Mother

Glass :: Hope :: Artist

– Raymon Elozua, 2022

ON WORKING IN ABSTRACTION

Abstraction has no message. 
Abstraction has no literal meaning. 
Abstraction is a pure reflection of self.

The computer was a significant tool in creating this body of work. The aesthetics behind the work originated from sampling different colors in a variety of Abstract Expressionist paintings. The colors were then exported into a software program and used as the basis for creating assorted 3D shapes. The forms were combined into virtual, albeit sterile, digital sculptures. These images were then “translated” into tactile textured sculptures fabricated out of steel, ceramic, and glass. The physical reality of the marriage of these materials and processes results in objects whose aesthetic beauty is born from decay, entropy, and regeneration. Abstraction has no message, no literal meaning, it is a pure reflection of self.

– Raymon Elozua, 2022