Bio:
Rocky Lewycky, born 1977 in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a contemporary artist living and working in Santa Cruz, California. His resume includes teaching positions at the University of South Carolina, Institute of American Indian Arts (I.A.I.A.), the Santa Fe Community College, Foothill College, Monterey Peninsula College, and De Anza College where he is currently head of ceramics. Rocky has been featured in museum shows, as well as gallery exhibits of contemporary sculpture, installation and performance throughout the country. Rocky was recognized by the Santa Fean magazine as ”One of the top five artists to watch in New Mexico,” and “Top Talent from emerging to established and our region’s most influential talent of all time,” in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Rocky was chosen by Jo Lauria of the American Craft Council to install a ceramic art piece at the Eastern State Penitentiary for the 2010 Philadelphia NCECA conference. He was also honored with a $20,000 award from the Santa Cruz Rydel Visual Arts Fund of 2012/2013. In 2019, he founded Rockford Gallery Contemporary Ceramics in Boulder Creek, California. In his first summer at the space Rocky exhibited three of his most recent bodies of work.
Artist Statement:
My artwork is continuously shedding its skin, morphing through new mediums that convey ideas of time and transformation. Process is often a key entry point into my artistic expression, as demonstrated by mark making and repetition of form. Another element of my work is rooted in social advocacy. I am allured by the idea of the progressive existential hero whose paradigm is not limited by the current societal climate. Influences such as Eckhart Tolle, Rudolf Steiner, Joseph Beuys, and Wolfgang Laib permeate my art, as well as inspire the development of my own instruments of consciousness. With the appreciation, placement and necessity of art in present-day culture, I believe my work in deconstructing social barriers has the validity and strength to elicit insights into a more cohesive humanity.
-Rocky Lewycky
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