Ovidio Giberga
As a first generation Cuban-American there had always been an inherent sense among my family of displacement or of living in exile. I have spent much of my life traveling, living and working in Spain, Italy, Colombia, Venezuela, and various regions throughout the U.S.. These experiences have provided me with a broad cultural perspective that has become a source of inspiration for my work.”
Ovidio currently lives and works in San Antonio, Texas where he heads the Ceramic program at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He received his M.F.A. from the University of Florida. Ovidio has been invited to present workshops and lectures throughout the U.S. including NCECA, Alfred University in New York, California State University in Chico, University of Hartford in Connecticut, University of Montana in Missoula, and
the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, Montana. Ovidio’s ceramic sculptures are exhibited nationally in museums, galleries, and college and university venues.
I came to ceramics from a sculpture background having worked with a variety of materials including wood, marble, and steel. As I began to explore my ideas through clay, I became increasingly engaged with the history and tradition of ceramics. These two sensibilities are evident in my work. Inspired by autobiographical experiences, I use symbolism and metaphor to convey ideas of duality and/or struggle expressed formally through the relationships between inside and out, surface and form, organic and geometric. The result can be seen as decorative or disfiguring, beautiful or grotesque. I derive much of my imagery from my immediate environment situating the work in my current place and time.
