Elina Jurado

BIOGRAPHY

Elina Esther Jurado is a working artist from Miami, Florida living in Kansas City, MO. She received her Bachelor’s of Fine Art majoring in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2013. In the Fall of 2014, she was accepted into the Artist Residency Program at the Carbondale Clay Center in Carbondale, CO. During her time in Carbondale, she further developed her work with earthenware and exhibited at the Carbondale Clay Center Gallery. In the summer of 2015 she was awarded a scholarship to attend a two week workshop at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center. Returning to Kansas City in 2017, she was accepted into the two year Residency Program at the Kansas City Clay Guild.  

In July of 2021, she started a small-batch pottery business EJ Ceramic Designs LLC. Through education and functional housewares made of low fire red earthenware, she continues to develop her creative voice and grow her brand locally and nationally. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

In the summer of 2020, I embarked on a road trip West to Moab, Utah. To be in the presence of staggering arches amongst the arid red terrain was truly breathtaking. I was fascinated by the saturated rusty landscape where weathered cliffs revealed a visual history of the world in between the colored layers of earth. These horizontal layers of earth are reminiscent of the levigation process used to make terra sigillata. Even more fascinating were the Petroglyphs found inside caves and cliff faces around Arches National Park. Images of animals or people engraved onto the dark iron surface to reveal the warm terracotta colored rock underneath is reminiscent of the sgraffito technique. 

Through layering colored terra sigillata and glaze, I translate the visual parallels of the red desert landscape from my trip and ceramic processes used in my practice. 

Website: www.elinaejurado.com
Instagram : @ejceramicdesigns