Iván Carmona’s ceramic work exists in a long lineage of abstracted, modernist sculpture that taps into a deep well of nostalgia and indirect association. Inspired by Puerto Rican landscapes, Carmona sifts his own intimate memories through distinct shapes, colors, and textures to give a physicality to the immaterial. The resulting clay forms become universal in their utilitarian means of activating specific human emotion. Their formalist simplicity invites an untranslatable response, a wholly unique echo of the original feeling. Stark, vibrant color mixes with precariously suspended components, opening up a private, inscrutable language that shifts with each viewer.
“A shape, word, texture, or color can activate potent memories, and this sense of nostalgia is key to a reading of my work. The sculptures are abstracted; they aren’t one-to-one representations. Each emotional memory is passed through the sieve of Modernism, creating connections between my remembrances and recollections of the past and the timeline of art history.” — Iván Carmona
