Ruchika Madan
Draw + Decal

Ruchika Madan Artist Biography

Ruchika Madan is a ceramic artist producing decorative and functional pottery and handmade tiles. The images she uses are derived from plant forms as well as ordinary objects, textures, and patterns observed in nature. Inspirations include linoleum and woodcut prints, textile designs, architecture, and traditions in ceramic and decorative art.

Pieces are made from white stoneware clay and decorated with colored slips. Drawings are carved through the slip in the sgraffito technique. All of the pieces are made individually and are one-of-a-kind.

Ruchika Madan Artist Statement

As our lives involve more and more assistance from technology, I am fascinated to see the continued importance that we place on the handmade object. There is a symbolism that we attach to these objects and something we are seeking when we bring them into our everyday lives. Though aesthetics are of importance in our architecture or in the products we use, we have a special reverence for things that can not be reproduced by machine. The love of these objects, their resistance to "progress" and the humanity that they represent keep me working in clay.

Patterns and textures I see, in the order of the stones in a pavement, branches on a winter sky, or undulations of sand formed on the ocean floor are translated in my work. The images I use are emblems of hope and life and indications of the persistence of nature. A tiny bird, a seedling, or a vine can go about its quiet business in spite of human activity and the seeming improbability of its endurance. Inspirations include linoleum and woodcut prints, textile designs, architecture, and traditions in ceramic and decorative art.

Ruchika Madan Artist Resume

Education

1997-1998 Post- Baccalaureate Program, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA

1989-1993 BFA Ceramics, Maine College of Art (formerly Portland School of Art), Portland, ME

Selected Recent Exhibitions

2005 The Balance of Nature, Willoughby & Baltic, Somerville, MA

2004 Our Cups Runneth Over, Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA

2004 Heart of the Home, Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery, Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, CT

2002 Winterfest 2002, National Invitational Holiday Exhibition, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD

2002 The 2002 Orton Cone Box Show, NCECA 2002, Baker University, Baldwin City, KS

2002 The State of Clay, Parsons Gallery, Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, Lexington, MA

2001 Utilitarian Ceramic National, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA.

2000 Solo Exhibition, Main Street Studio + Gallery, Deer Isle, ME

1999 Newburyport Art Association Regional Fine Crafts Exhibition, Newburyport Art Association, Newburyport, MA

1999 The State of Clay, Parsons Gallery, Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, Lexington, MA

1999 MECA Alumni Exhibition, Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art, Portland, ME

1999 Celestial Seasonings: A Loose Interpretation IV, Celestial Seasonings Company Headquarters, Boulder, CO

Retail Shows

2004 Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show

2004 Crafts Park Avenue, New York, NY

2004 Lyndhurst Craft Show, Tarrytown, NY

2003, 2002 Westchester Craft Show, Westchester, NY

2003 Providence Craft Show, Providence, RI

2003 Guilford Handcraft Show

2002, 2000 Crafts at the Castle, Boston, MA