HAMILTON, CANADA

MARISSA Y ALEXANDER

Petalform (White)

$1,502.00
Exhibition Submission Statement

To make something that has the potential to hold is a gesture of generosity. What can be contained within an object, concealed inside its form, is endless. These personal offerings, whether solid or ephemeral, occupy a protected space that allows one to imagine the future, to save for later. This act of conservation, protection, and projection is also charged with secrecy and mystery, revealed only through curiosity and action.
Performance is an innate quality of the container: it sits, it holds, it gathers things or thoughts, while persuading a performance from the user. Within this relationship, ritual and knowing begin to grow.


For me, making a lidded container requires a precise intent unique to this form. The challenge lies in ensuring body and lid not only meet physically, but also complement one another in a sculptural dialogue. These containers are inspired by floral motifs, drawn first as lines, then translated into three-dimensional volumes. Their surfaces are built from thinly extruded lines of glaze, applied side by side, melting into one another until they become intricate patterns born of repetition. In this way, each container carries both the discipline of precision and the looseness of organic rhythm, holding not only what is placed within, but also the gestures of making itself.

Dimensions: 7.5”H x 13”W x 12”D

Material: stoneware, glaze

Artwork ships: beginning october 22nd

Petalform (White)

Marissa Y, 2025
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Artist Statement

My work encompasses various streams, all intertwined by coil and line. Coil gives rise to form, form to edges and silhouettes, and these, in turn, frame surfaces. Through repeated gestures, such as the simple act of making a line, transformation unfolds. Central to my identity as an artist and my relationship with form is my connection to pots. Crafting vessels pays homage to my initial encounter with ceramics, honoring both the material and its historical traditions. I utilize the surfaces of pots to create patterns and narratives that articulate my vision, a vision of beauty, envisioning contemporary life. Thinly extruded lines of glaze, applied side by side, meld into intricate compositions of color, shape, pattern, and texture. The deliberate pace of my chosen processes invites the possibility of disruption, allowing for flexibility and divergence from initial concepts. Themes of beauty, femininity, nature, and materiality permeate my reflections, drawing from memories of familial gardens in my formative years. These fleeting recollections are transmuted into enduring reflections of experience. The garden becomes a stage where vessels and figures dwell as companions, quiet keepers of beauty and memory, carrying gestures of the past into imagined futures.

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About the Artist

Marissa Y Alexander is a ceramic artist based in Hamilton, Ontario. She holds a BA in Sociology from McMaster University and an Advanced Diploma in Craft and Design (Ceramics) from Sheridan College. Marissa completed her MFA in Ceramic Art at The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and has previously served as a full-time Artist-In-Residence at Harbourfront Centre. Marissa has gained recognition for her ceramics, receiving various awards while exhibiting both nationally and internationally.

Artist cv

MARISSA Y ALEXANDER

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