the forms i work with are inspired by the internal and external anatomy of insects and animals. i incorporate my love of nature with the distortion and simplification found in 20th century abstract art and modern digital art. the softness of a digital brush, the otherworldliness of low-poly renders, and the crackling of a compressed image all work within the same balanced chaos of the natural world. mutation and cyclical relationships are key aspects of both and my work reflects that.
though i work in abstract sculpture, it is essential that my work does not alienate an audience. many of my pieces are built to live beyond the gallery, as i understand the “white cube” to be a place of tension and hierarchy. i’ve also taken to making my own plinths or otherwise opting for the floor.
common themes i address in my work are environmentalism, mental health, gender and sexuality, and disability. as a Mad non-binary person i often feel i have to explain my identity before i am taken seriously. though i may touch on it, my work is first and foremost a denial of sanity and cisnormativity. i, like other marginalized people, feel no need to justify what i am to comfort others.
a large part of my work is experimenting with different glazing techniques and recipes. i get satisfaction from the more precise chemical work of glaze mixing and the mystery of it’s outcomes. my recent work uses experiments with unconventional non-ceramic materials, including building materials such as metal, industrial spray foam, wood, and spackling paste. i find having these points of reference immediately connects the audience to a piece.
through my work i give complex and muddled ideas the complex and muddled form they deserve. i aim to be a jumping off point for conversation. when people see my work, my goal is for them to leave more curious and hopefully, more knowledgeable.
mickey vescera (b. 1999) is a non-binary ceramicist, sculptor, and writer born and raised on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (so-called Vancouver, BC). It is a graduate from Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECUAD) and has been working in clay since 2018.
vescera has been involved in several exhibitions in the lower mainland, including ECUAD’s May 2021 Graduation Show, where it showed part of its series “in hindsight of the future”, and multiple group shows at the James Black Gallery, PoMoArts, and Gallery George. After graduating, vescera finished a 2021-2022 ceramics residency at PoMoArts where they exhibited their series “concrete marrow”. Its most recent exhibition was Il Centro’s “They, They, & It”, a collaboration with painter and sculptor Shel Stefan. It is currently a studio member of the James Black Gallery and sells its work out of the Pressure Point shop in the City Centre Artist Lodge.
vescera’s first officially published non-fiction work is included in the 2024 volume of Here & Now, a queer Italian-Canadian writing collection edited by Licia Canton. It has published three independent zines (rat king (2018), Hate in 123 Colours (2019), and Resting in Power: Transgender Day of Remembrance 2018 (2019)), one zine-poster collaboration with print artist Mickey Morgan (ECUAD Donor Map: Mapping East Van (2020)), and had their work included in the 2021 edition of MYXCES zine.