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2024, “Student to Artist: In Pursuit of the Artistic Practice”
After first working in the medical field, Maria Raquel Morales attended Washburn to study art. Since receiving her degree, she has established a fruitful artistic practice. She works in an expressive style of figural ceramic art that often incorporates animal imagery. She has completed residencies and workshops at institutions including 323 Clay, Glassell Studio School at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Penland School of Craft.Label
From an email communication from Maria Raquel Morales, 7/6/2015: "Aves means Birds. I have been interested in the relationship of humans and different animals. Birds have families and communities, and are very fragile creatures but are very resilient. Birds have the ability to build their homes in man-made dwellings with human-made materials. In a spiritual way birds also play a very important part in people's lives."Label
2024 post: Throughout 2024, we're looking back at the 100 year history of art at the Mulvane. Maria Raquel Morales, a Washburn alumna with a former career in medicine, often explores inner life, spirituality, and the relationship of humans to the natural world in her art. "Aves" is a 2007 installation made of 26 ceramic human torsos with birds painted in various developmental stages.
"Birds have families and communities, and are very fragile creatures but are very resilient. Birds have the ability to build their homes in man-made dwellings with human-made materials. In a spiritual way birds also play a very important part in people's lives."
-Maria Raquel Morales