Kristy Moreno builds sculptural vessels of female figures standing in solidarity, resistance, friendship, and love. Rooted in feminist cartoon figures and the female pillars of her upbringing, Moreno’s ceramics flaunt distinguished individual styles borrowed from an array of historical sources, including 1970s LA punk fashion, Chicanx lowrider culture, 1950s beehive updos, the bold geometric prints of her mother’s wardrobe, and 90s Chola staples like nameplate jewelry.
Moreno begins with slabs and coils to intuitively construct a vertical cylinder. She then draws into the surface of the clay, fitting figures together like a bioorganic puzzle, carving out some details, and adding mass and shape as needed. Once all dimensions are complete, Moreno seals the top of the vessel and turns to glazing. Using her own hand-mixed slip glazes, she paints color onto the vessels, adding style, personality, and somatic features. Clear glaze and an occasional second firing provide shine on selected details. Collectively, the individual styles, expressions, and features of these figures create imagined personas of radicalized future ancestors.
Kristy Moreno (b. 1991, Inglewood, CA) received her Associates in Arts from Santa Ana College in Santa Ana, CA and her BFA in ceramics from California State University, Chico in Chico, CA. Moreno’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including MUZEO Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim, CA; Glassell Gallery in Baton Rouge, LA; Lucy Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA; Volery Gallery in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and at OCHI, Thinkspace Projects, and Tlaloc Studios in Los Angeles, CA. Her work has been featured in publications including Los Angeles Times, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz, Ceramics Now, Voyage LA, Las Vegas Weekly, Beautiful Bizarre, and Artfix Daily. Moreno is the recipient of various awards and residencies including the Taunt Fellowship, the Windgate-Lamar Fellowship, and the Jack Winsor Memorial Scholarship. Moreno recently completed a two-year residency at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, a residency at Cerámica Suro in Guadalajara, México, and was an artist-in-residence at Greenwich House Pottery in New York, NY.
Visit Kristy Moreno’s website and Instagram page.
Artist profile published with the participation of OCHI Gallery, Los Angeles.
Featured work
Selected works, 2023-2025
My work focuses on the imagined personas of radicalized future ancestors. The hand crafted ceramics are fictional characters often resembling feminine personalities paused in space and time. I examine the essence of these future communities through the use of body language and attitudes to further explore themes of rage, empathy, and curiosity.
Individualizing these characters grants me the freedom to be curious about the influences they might have inherited from past societies, and I try to observe how the past often shapes future worlds. I’d like to imagine that these ancestors survived by refusing to participate in the patriarchal systems that came before them. They are no longer conditioned to believe that they have to live in someone else’s reality.
