Artist Talk: Clarissa Pezone

Join MoCA Arlington for an artist talk with Clarissa Pezone focused on The Woods of No Name, her solo exhibition on view at the museum through May 26.

Clarissa Pezone pushes the possibilities of clay as a material by working at a large scale to create human and animal figures that are lifelike yet suffused with a sense of mystery. The artist imbues her figures with “the spirit of inner life” by paying close attention to details and textures. She carefully crafts strands of hair, folds of clothing, and subtle wrinkles in skin. The resulting figures are rooted in the everyday but, when brought together, create a space of wonder and melancholy. For The Woods of No Name, Pezone has created a new installation that explores the concept of limbo–what the artist describes as “the mystic space that exists between reality and the unknown.”

Clarissa Pezone: The Woods of No Name takes place as part of MoCA Arlington’s SOLOS 23-24, a series of solo exhibitions by artists based in the Mid-Atlantic taking place at the Museum throughout 2023 and 2024. The exhibitions were selected from an open call by a jury that included artist Nekisha Durrett, Betsy Johnson, assistant curator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Jova Lynne, director, Temple Contemporary, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University.

Clarissa Pezone
b. 1990, Sacramento, CA
Lives and works in Baltimore, MD

Clarissa Pezone is an interdisciplinary sculptor investigating the overlaps between magical thinking, personal mythology and grief. In her practice, she uses figuration and realism as a method to explore stories surrounding loss, interconnectedness, and longing. Born in Sacramento, CA, she received a BA from Humboldt State University in northern California and an MFA from Indiana University Bloomington. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a Lormina Salter Fellowship at Baltimore Clayworks, a Windgate Fellowship to attend Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and is currently a Semifinalist for the Janet and Walter Sondheim Art Prize. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the Indianapolis Art Center (Indianapolis, IN), C.R.E.T.A Rome (Rome, Italy), and the Erie Art Museum (Erie, PA). Pezone is currently based in Baltimore, where she teaches and maintains a studio practice.