KUZANA OGG - ARTIST STATEMENT

In these works, abstracted botanical forms flow under, sprout from, dangle decoratively and otherwise mirror their corporeal counterparts. Water is represented both in form and surface. It is indicated by lingering marks, a glassy surface, and glazes of color. It is present in the shape of ripe mangos and in the stems of aquatic plants. The mysteries of plant life echo the workings of the human body. These processes offer a glimpse into the divine.
The titles of these works reflect the enigma of language in general and those foreign to me in particular. They have been chosen randomly to express the incidental manner of acquiring language; first as a child in India, and subsequently as an adult living and travelling through various countries.

BIO

Kuzana was born in Bombay in the early ‘70s. Her parents brought her home on the back of their motorcycle.
The first years of her life were divided between the ancestral home of her grandfather, surrounded by lush gardens and groves of coconut trees, and the exquisite Worli sea face home of her grandmother. Her earliest memories are of temperate weather, fragrant jasmine blossoms, and layers upon layers of color.
A short while later, Kuzana and her infant sister joined their newly immigrated parents in England. The landscape changed from streets crammed with disorderly traffic and cows to cars neatly parked in rows. Crumbling palatial structures were replaced by tidy brick homes with frilly curtains. Plastic toys took over when those of tin and copper couldn’t be found.
Kuzana’s education was in a series of boarding schools; Cornwall and Surrey in England, after that- Kodaikanal in the south of India. At the age of 10, Kuzana and her family moved to New York. Her secondary education was completed at Catholic and public schools.
 In 1995, she graduated from SUNY Purchase. Marriage followed shortly thereafter, and she and her beloved moved to South Korea. They spent the next six years living in historic Kyung Ju; teaching English and learning Korean, before they returned to the United States.
Kuzana and her husband have been living in New Mexico since 2001. She has participated in several residencies, the most recent in Sri Lanka. Her work has been exhibited, published and collected both nationally and internationally.

EXHIBITIONS

Solo and Two Person
2010   Kuzana Ogg and Angie Renfro, Artizen Fine Art, Dallas, TX
2010   Worli, Matrix Fine Art, Albuquerque, NM 
2010   Pochkhanawala Road, Gallery Gray, World Wide Web
2008   Honey, Matrix Fine Art, Albuquerque, NM 
2007   Mango Season, The Gallery at Mesa Public Library, Los Alamos, NM 
1994   Elysian Fields, Triangle Gallery, SUNY Purchase, NY
Group
2010   Private Eyes, Artists' Vision, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA 
2010   Art in Embassies, United States Embassy, Belmopan, Belize 
2010   The Garden, United States Embassy, Riga, Latvia
2009   Paint!,Climate Gallery, Long Island City, NY 
2009   4th National Juried Exhibition, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA 
2009   SAsia,Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts, Long Branch, NJ 
2009   Lush: Abstract Paintings,Matrix Fine Art, Albuquerque, NM 
2009   The Sketchbook Project
Art House Gallery, Atlanta, GA 
Museum of Contemporary Art, Washington DC
Laconia Gallery, Boston, MA 
3rd Ward Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 
Museum of Design, Atlanta, GA
2008 Erasing Borders
Queens Museum of Art, Flushing Meadows, NY
Brownson Art Gallery, Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY
Hammond Museum, North Salem, NY
2008  Festival of Pacific Artists,Santa Monica Art Studios, Santa Monica, CA
2008   Pacific Festival of the Book, Victoria Arts Connection, Victoria, Canada 
2007  New Mexico Women in the Arts, Harwood Museum, Taos, NM 
2007   Rhythm and Blues,Montgomery College, Rockville, MD            
2007   International Artists 2007, Theertha Gallery, Pitakotte, Sri Lanka 
2006   Holiday, The Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Red Wing, MN                    
2003   Drawing, New Mexico School of Mines, Socorro, NM
1995   New Work, Schwarinsky Gallery, New York, NY

EDUCATION AND AWARDS

2008   Rachel Allen Printmaking Fellowship, Albuquerque, NM 
2007   Theertha International Artists’ Collective Residency, Pitakotte, Sri Lanka 
2002   The Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Red Wing, MN
1996-2001   Travel, South Korea 
1995   BFA in Studio Arts, SUNY Purchase
1994   SUNY Purchase Feminist studio art award 
1993   Scoula Lorenzo di Medici in Florence, Italy 
1992   Frances B. Hook merit scholarship for achievement in drawing

PUBLICATIONS

Kuzana Ogg, Visual Masters Inaugural Issue, England, 2010
Calendar 2010, SPAN United States Embassy New Delhi, 2009
Eclectic mix of artists churns out must-see works, Wesley Pulkka, Albuquerque Journal, May 25, 2008.