Marina Kuchinski was born in Latvia and raised in Israel where she earned a BFA in ceramics at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. After moving to the United States, she completed her MFA in ceramics at Penn State University. She has been an active practicing artist and a Professor of Art, teaching ceramics and drawing at the College of DuPage in Illinois.
Kuchinski has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally including at the Palmer Museum of Art; San Diego Art Institute; The State Museum of Pennsylvania; the Plains Art Museum; Chester Springs Studio; Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis; Northern Clay Center; Koehnline Museum of Art; European Cultural and Technological Centre, Slovenia; and Aharon Cahanah Gallery, Israel. She has also exhibited at many NCECA sponsored exhibitions including The NCECA Biennial.
Kuchinski has received numerous grants and awards including a Jerome Foundation Fellowship and a McKnight Residency Grant, juried and curated exhibitions, and was a guest artist at a number of colleges and universities. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Kohler Arts Center, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Chester Springs Studio, and the Northern Clay Center.
She uses a variety of materials in her work with ceramics being the primary medium. The work focuses on humanity in general. It is stripped from narrative syntax of the body. Animal subjects are used to explore human experiences, while the differences between humans and other species, nature and culture are deconstructed.
FEATURED WORK
– John Michael Kohler Arts and Industry Residency, 2014
I am interested in the relationship between physical presence and physical space and the resulting dialectics of inner and outer form. The question of place and location is placed within cultural, institutional, and psychological contexts. The object or the viewer can reveal the shape of a place or, the place of the body can be indicated as a avoid. Charging sculptural objects and spaces with meaning is an invitation for a physical interaction and the questioning of why things are the way they are and what would happen if they change.
Three-dimensional images of the body focus on humanity in general. They are stripped from narrative syntax of the body. Animal subjects are used to explore human experiences, while the differences between humans and other species, nature and culture are deconstructed. The correlation between individual and collective experiences and the irresolvable tensions between the two are explored through an object’s reaction to another object. The objects are reexamined through transformation from their inanimate state into something that is immersed with a presence of an absent person.
I use anything from the concreteness clay to ephemeral materials and found objects to reflect on the organic and technological experiences of ourselves and our lives. The interplay between matter, space, object, and time, conveys the various meanings of my work.
MARINA KUCHINSKI’s C.V. (resume)
EDUCATION
1995 – MFA Degree in Ceramics, Penn State University, University Park, PA
1992 – BFA in Degree in Ceramics, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel
ONE AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2015 – For Only, North Central College Art Gallery, Naperville, IL
2013 – Wild Things, NCECA Conference, Winter Street Studios, Houston, TX
2012 – Another View, Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL
2009 – Off the Record, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL
2008 – The Art of Concept, Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN
2007 – Wait, Kishwaukee College, Malta, IL
– Revach, McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, IL
2005 – Worlds Apart, Tuttle Gallery, NCECA Conference, Baltimore, MD
– This and That, Illinois Central College, East Peoria, IL
2003 – Contact Details, Beacon Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
2002 – Distortions, Pearl Conard Gallery, The Ohio State University, Mansfield, OH
2001 – Custom Made, Hopper House Art Center, Nyack, NY
2000 – Within, Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA
– Out of Context, Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, MN
1999 – Art in Space XII, Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN
– Opus and Installation, Middle Tennessee State University Art Gallery, Murfreesboro, TN
1998 – Have, Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Wayzata, MN
1997 – Spider’s Nests, Dayton Hudson Gallery, St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016 – 50 Years / 50 Women, A Celebration of Women in Ceramics, NCECA Conference, Kansas City, MO
2015 – Birds, NCECA Conference, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, Providence, RI
2014 – Radical Inventions, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
– What Goes Bump in the Night, Clay Arts Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
– History in the Making, Genesee Pottery and Firehouse Gallery, Rochester, NY
– Workhouse Clay National, Workhouse Art Center, Lorton, VA
– Shapes of Influence Contemporary Ceramics, Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL
– University of Florida National Juried Exhibition, University of Florida Gallery of Art, Jacksonville, FL
2013 – Big Fat Scary Deal, Purdue University, West Lafayette, INRiver2River Juried Show, – Iowa Clay Conference, The Ceramics Center, Cedar Rapids, IA
– Uncanny Congruences, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park, PA
– Redefined, NCECA Conference, Spring Street Studios, Houston, TX
– Functional/Dysfunctional, Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL
2012 – Ecumene: Global Interface in American Ceramics National Exhibition, Santa Fe Community College School of Art and Design Visual Arts Gallery, organized by NCECA in conjunction with the 45th General Assembly of the International Academy of Ceramics, Santa Fe, NM
– International Ceramic Triennial UNICUM, European Cultural and Technological Centre, Maribor, Slovenia
– Clay National VIII, Sculptural Ceramics, Carbondale Clay Center, Carbondale, CO
– Beyond the Brickyard, The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, MT
– Art From the Heartland, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
2011 – Invitational Ceramic Sculpture Exhibition, Obsidian Gallery, Tucson, AZ
– River2River Juried Show, Iowa Clay Conference, The Ceramics Center, Cedar Rapids, IA
– Visions In Clay, LH Horton Jr Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA
– 64 Arts National Juried Exhibition, Buchanan Center for the Arts, Monmouth, IL
– Icons, Totems, Banalities, Emblems and Embodiments: Animals as Image, NCECA Conference, Creative
– Clay Cultural Arts Center, Tampa, FL
– Twenty-Four Maximum, Christopher Art Gallery, Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL
2010 – A New Decade of Clay, Co-sponsored by Clay Times Magazine, Sierra Nevada College
and Northstar-at-Tahoe, Truckee, CA
2009 – NCECA 2009 Clay National Biennial Exhibition, NCECA Conference, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ
– 64 Arts National Juried Exhibition, Buchanan Center for the Arts, Monmouth, IL
2008 – Feminist Ecology, Koehnline Museum of Art, Des Plaines, IL
– Life’s Unique Journey, Northwest Cultural Council, Arlington Heights, IL
– Jersey Shore Clay National, M. T. Burton Gallery, Surf City, NJ
– Dreams & Visions, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
2007 – 1830 F, Contemporary Expressions in Clay, Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL
– Divine Dirt, The Kavanagh Gallery, Fine Line Arts Center, St. Charles, IL
– Big Muddy, Quigley Gallery, Clarke College, Dubuque, IA
2007 – Regional College and University Art Faculty Exhibition, Governors State University,
University Park, IL
2006 – Seventh National Juried Exhibition, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY
– Galex 40, Galesburg Civic Art Center, Galesburg, IL
2005 – Art Under Fire, Brickton Art Center, Park Ridge, IL
– New Art ‘05: Reason and Squalor, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA
– Open Destiny: New Visual Directions 2005, Caladan Gallery, Beverly, MA
– 55th Annual Quad-State Exhibition, Quincy Art Center, Quincy, IL
– National Photography Invitational, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
2004 – 47th Annual International Award Exhibition, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
– Vitrified Clay National: Form & Content, Rockport Center for the Arts, Rockport, TX2003
– Contemporary Ceramics Invitational, Bradley University, Peoria, IL
– Mute, National All Media Juried Exhibition, Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, MD
2002 – Pushing Clay, University of Southern Maine Art Gallery, Gorham, ME
– Red Heat, Contemporary Work in Clay, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
2001 – Stretch National Invitational, NCECA Conference, Afro-American Cultural Center, Charlotte, NC
– Faculty Exhibition, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL
– Origins in Clay National, Traveling Exhibition, Art Gallery, The University of Texas, San Antonio, TX; Del Rio Gallery, Del Rio, TX
2000 – Indoor/Outdoor Sculpture Show, Oannes Gallery, Tiverton, Rl
– 2000 Studio Artists Exhibition, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
– Art of the State: Pennsylvania 2000, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
1999 – The Creative Arena at the Epoch of an American Century, Featured Artist, Raymond Lawrence Gallery, Atlanta, GA
– Group Show, 11 Painters & 2 Sculptors, Lindenberg Gallery, New York, NY
– ‘OO’s, The Galleries, Rogue Community College, Grants Pass, OR
– Creating and Connecting, Traveling Exhibition, St. John’s University,
– Collegeville, MN, 1999; The College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN, 1996
– McKnight Artists Exhibition, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
– 1st Annual Juried Exhibition: On the Plains, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND
1998 – The Penn State Tradition, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
– National Juried All Media Exhibition, Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester, Ml
1997 – Greater Midwest International Exhibition, Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, MO
– Sculptural Works in Clay – 97, Maine Artist’s Space, Danforth Gallery, Portland, ME
– Form 97, BAG Gallery, Manitou Springs, CO
1996 – Faculty Exhibition, Kiehle Gallery, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN
– The Miami Valley Annual Crossroads In Clay Competition, Middletown Fine Arts Center, Middletown, OH
1995 – Feats of Clay, Lincoln Arts Gallery, Lincoln, CA
1994 – Crafts National 28, Zoller Gallery, Penn State University, University Park, PA
TEACHING
2000-Present – Professor of Art, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL
2000 – Ceramics Instructor, Millersville University, Millersville, PA
1995-98 – Assistant Professor of Ceramics and Foundations, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN
1994-95 – Teaching Assistant, Penn State University, University Park, PA
HONORS
2014 – John Michael Kohler Arts and Industry Residency, Sheboygan, WI
2012 – Summer Kiln God Artist Residency, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME
– Juror’s Award, Beyond the Brickyard, The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, MT
2006 – Sculpture Award, Galex 40, Galesburg Civic Art Center, Galesburg, IL2001 Jurors Award, Origins in Clay National Exhibition, The University of Texas, San Antonio, TX
1999-00 – Artist in Residence, Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA
1999 – Travel and Study Grant, Jerome Foundation, St. Paul, MN
1998-99 – Jerome Grant, Installation Art Commission, Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN
1998 – McKnight Artist Residency for Ceramic Artists Grant, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
1997 & 1998 – Central Minnesota Arts Board Individual Artist Honorable Mention Grant, St. Cloud, MN
1997 – Cultural Diversity Grant (authored for the Art Department at St. Cloud State University), St. Cloud, MN
1996 – The Miami Valley Annual Crossroads Competition In Clay Award, Middletown, OH
1994 – Artist in Residence, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME
1992 – The America-Israel Cultural Foundation Award for Ceramic Artists, Tel Aviv, Israel
VISITING ARTIST LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS
2015 – John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
2012 – Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL
2007 – Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL
– Kishwaukee College, Malta, IL
2001 – Governor’s School for the Arts, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
– Panelist, Women in the Middle East through Art, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL
2000 – Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA
1999 – Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
– Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN
1998 – Hope College, Holland, Ml
– Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2013 – Uncanny Congruences, catalog essay by Stephen Carpenter II, 1 image, Palmer Museum of Art
– Big Fat Scary Deal, catalog, 1 image, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
2012 – International Ceramic Triennial UNICUM, catalog, 1 image, Maribor, Slovenia
– Ecumene: Global Interface in American Ceramics National Exhibition, catalog, 1 image,
– Santa Fe Community College School of Art and Design Visual Arts Gallery, sponsored by NCECA
– Beyond the Brickyard, 4th Annual National Juried Exhibition, catalog cover, 2 images, Archie Bray Foundation
2010 – Tony Merino, 2009 NCECA Biennial, Ceramics: Art and Perception, December 2009 – February 2010
2009 – 2009 NCECA Clay National Biennial Exhibition catalog, 1 image
– Germaine Shames, 2009 NCECA Clay National Biennial Exhibition, Ceramics Monthly, June/July/August
– Tony Merino, Surreal Ruminations on the NCECA Clay National, 2009 NCECA Journal, Volume 30
2008 – Feminist Ecology, catalog, 1 image, Koehnline Museum of Art
2005 – Cate McQuaid, In a Group Show, Artists Embrace a Faux Naive Style, The Boston Globe, July 29
2002 – Ron Schira, PSU graduates create a visual-arts event, Reading, PA, Reading Eagle, February 172000
– “Up Front”, Marina Kuchinski, Ceramics Monthly, January 2000
– “Up Front”, McKnight Artists Exhibition, Ceramics Monthly, May 2000
– Victoria Donohoe, Chester Springs Studio, The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 16
1999 – Jerry Cullum, There’s room for many modern sensibilities in ‘Creative Arena’, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 8
– Art in Space XII, catalog essay, 3 images, Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN
– Four McKnight Artists, catalog essay by Robert Silberman, 3 images, Northern Clay Center
1998 – Elizabeth Weir, Art Center’s exhibits are playful, angry and zany, Minnetonka, MN, Lakeshore Weekly News, February 12
1997 – McKnight fellowship give artists ‘unfettered creative time’, Minneapolis, MN, Star Tribune, July 28
CURATORIAL WORK
2013 – Redefined, Group Exhibition, NCECA Conference, Spring Street Studios, Houston, TX
2006-2010 – Wings Student Art Gallery, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
– John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
– Kohler Company, Kohler, WI
– Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
– OnView Gallery, Park Ridge, IL
– Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA
– Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel
Contact Marina at marina@marinakuchinski.com or visit her website.
View the ceramic artists list.
