SUAREZ, Christopher
Description
Anaheim Center, 2022
Ceramic with paint
17 x 28 x 11"
The work of Christopher Suarez explores the relationship between communities and their built environment through the three-dimensional medium of clay. His ceramic sculptures recreate the neighborhood buildings, laundromats, convenience stores, and mercados that define his experience growing up in Long Beach, CA. Suarez relies on personal memory to rebuild seemingly unremarkable places and spaces that are, in fact, important cultural and personal sites within his community.
Anaheim Center explores the strip mall, a quintessentially Southern Californian architectural form, as the epicenter for the cultivation of community and culture. These commercial centers are not only an integral part of the SoCal landscape, but more importantly for the artist, an extension of home. According to Suarez, “Our homes, the buildings that we go into, the businesses we shop at, these structures carry the spirit of our relationships.”
Anaheim Center explores the strip mall, a quintessentially Southern Californian architectural form, as the epicenter for the cultivation of community and culture. These commercial centers are not only an integral part of the SoCal landscape, but more importantly for the artist, an extension of home. According to Suarez, “Our homes, the buildings that we go into, the businesses we shop at, these structures carry the spirit of our relationships.”
Date
2022
Creator
SUAREZ, Christopher
b. United States, 1994
Source
Museum purchase
Identifier
2023.003.001
Collection
Citation
SUAREZ, Christopher and b. United States, 1994, “SUAREZ, Christopher,” UCSB ADA Museum Omeka, accessed April 27, 2024, http://art-collections.museum.ucsb.edu/items/show/16859.