Visiting artist at Beit Benyamini: Amber Aguirre (Hawaii) will be our artist-in-residence for the month of August.
Amber is the recipient of NCECA’s International Residency grant for 2013. Partnering with NCECA for this unique residency program offers the Benyamini Center wide international exposure and an opportunity to engage in international professional, cultural and creative exchange. We are honored and thankful to NCECA for collaborating with us.
Amber, a graduate of San Francisco State University, currently lives, teaches and creates in Hawaii.Most of her work is figurative sculpture which enhances a narrative used to comment, observe and explore the human condition.
‘As the child of a Holocaust survivor I was indoctrinated from a young age into awareness of the fear, apathy, and victimization inherent in human cultures.Throughout history artists have functioned as social commentators. I use human and anthropomorphic figures as the vehicle to explore the results of these prevalent emotions on society.’
To accentuate the narrative the artist developed a unique technique – “Naked Fauxku” which reproduces a likeness to Naked Raku but is created in a high fire, oxygenated atmosphere with no reduction. It creates a cracked and painful looking surface that adds subliminal meaning to the work by visually suggesting breakage and disintegration.
