Artist Talks: Listening to Form with Alicia Ponzio and Alexis Pavlantos

Friday, May 10, 2019 | 7–9pm

This is the first Artist Talk in this series! Join us throughout the year for a series of intimate, community building events, where nationally-renowned artists share the story of their creative journey and the methodology of their work.

Not a member yet? Sign up now and start your creative journey, while directly increasing opportunities for students to access and participate in one-of-a-kind arts education.

Alicia N. Ponzio (b.1974) began her career as a Lieutenant in the United States’ Navy Nurse Corps.

After experimenting with various mediums in figurative art, she found her voice in sculpture and made the decision to pursue it. She completed her artistic training at the Florence Academy of Art (FAA) in Florence, Italy, where she graduated from the Sculpture Program in 2008. She was then the director of the Artistic Anatomy and Écorché Sculpture programs, as well as a figure drawing Instructor, at the FAA until 2011, when she returned to the United States and set up her studio in downtown San Francisco.

Alicia brings life to her bronzes and plasters, focusing on the abstract movement of forms as embodied in the human figure, as well as the subtle shades of human emotion. She favors asymmetry, irregularity, and variety in design: qualities that suggest a human touch. Her figure compositions and portraits have received honors from several organizations including the Art Renewal Center, the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, The California Art Club, the Portrait Society of America, and The National Sculpture Society from which Alicia received the Alex J. Ettl Grant in 2016. She was artist in residence at Brookgreen Gardens in 2017, and was selected to design the Brookgreen Gardens Medallion for 2018-19. Her work ranges from miniature portraits to larger scale single figure and multi-figure compositions. She works extensively in plaster to achieve her effect, and casts the final product in bronze.

In addition to her sculpture work, Alicia offers classes and workshops in San Francisco at her teaching studio, JHess Studios. She also teaches at venues located across the United States, in Canada, and Europe including Brookgreen Gardens, The University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, Pixar Studios, and Rome Art Workshops.

Alicia’s work is available through the Haynes Galleries and American Legacy Fine Art Gallery.

Alexis Pavlantos grew up in the mineral heartlands of Tijeras, New Mexico. The daughter of a gemologist and goldsmith, from a young age she was immersed in jewelry and rock culture. With this acquired—or even hereditary—passion for creating, she continued her studies at University of New Mexico, where she obtained her BFA in sculpture with an emphasis in ceramics. After graduation she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue a career in the arts. With limited space to create and a background in metalsmithing acquired through childhood knowledge of her mother’s practice, Alexis decided to combine the two worlds, making wearable art.

Alexis uses the word Transmogrify, which is defined as a transformation that occurs in a surprising and magical manner, to best describe her work. She works with wax to give shape to her feeling-forms and solidifies them by casting them into metal. These forms resemble those found in nature, tying her inner world to the outer efflorescence she feels resonating from her core when immersed outdoors. She creates jewelry to collaborate with the human body, and these embellishments interact as an extension of the body.

Alexis’ work has been in museums all over the world and is held in permanent collection at the Ilias Lalounis Jewelry museum in Athens, Greece. Her work will be featured at the Benaki Museum as a part of Athens Jewelry week this summer, and she has been invited to present her work at New York Jewelry week this winter. She has been featured in art publications such as Colossal Art Magazine, and she has several galleries that represent her work. She teaches wax carving and modeling at the Academy of Art University and holds workshops both in her studio and at Pixar.

The Crucible is conveniently located near BART and AC Transit. We encourage public transportation as our parking lot is small.

BART
From the West Oakland BART Station, exit onto 7th Street, turn right and walk 2 blocks east to Union (at the 2nd light). The Crucible is on the northwest corner of 7th & Union, at 1260 7th Street. To plan your BART trip, visit www.bart.gov.

AC TRANSIT & 511.ORG
> Bus schedule
> More transit info

PARKING
The Crucible has a small parking lot on the corner of 7th & Union. Spaces are available on a first come first serve basis, but will not be available during events. Street parking is available on 7th Street to the west of Union.

Please do not block the Union Street entrance marked in red, the 7th Street entrance, or the roll up doors. Please do not park in lots owned by local businesses – they will tow your car.

DIRECTIONS
From San Francisco 1. From the Bay Bridge, stay right and take 880 South 2. Stay in the right lane 3. Take the Union Street Exit marked “Alameda/Broadway” 4. At the bottom of the exit ramp go straight through the first traffic light. 5. The second traffic light is 7th Street. 6. 1260 7th Street is across the street to your left.

From North of Oakland 1. From 80/580 South get onto 880 South 2. Stay in the right lane 3. Take the Union Street Exit marked “Alameda/Broadway” 4. At the bottom of the exit ramp go straight through the first traffic light. 5. The second traffic light is 7th Street. 6. 1260 7th Street is across the street to your left.

From South of Oakland 1. 880 North 2. Take the Market Street exit toward “Harbor Terminal” (just after the exit for 980 North) 3. At the bottom of the exit ramp turn right onto Market Street 4. Turn left at the traffic light onto 7th Street 5. Go three blocks to Union Street 6. 1260 7th Street is on your right.

From East of Oakland 1. Take Hwy 24/980 West 2. Take the 12th Street Exit 3. At the top of the exit ramp go straight to the 2nd traffic light 4. Turn right at the traffic light onto 7th Street 5. Go three traffic lights to Union Street 6. 1260 7th Street is on your right.