About
Biography
Beth Atanacio is an American artist who creates abstract art to communicate complex emotions. Born to Filipino and Chinese immigrant parents in Buffalo, NY, she studied abroad in Beijing and worked as a designer and programmer in New York City for many years before returning back home. Navigating these different social, cultural, and economic spaces has, and continues to, influence her work. Beth’s visual inspiration comes from the man-made and the natural realms; the most emotionally moving being phenomena that exist from both of these components. Beth earned a BFA in Communication Design at SUNY Buffalo and a Master of Industrial Design at Pratt Institute. She is a Studio Artist at Buffalo Arts Studio and has exhibited work in the Western New York area and during New York Design Week (now NYCxDESIGN) at the Model Citizens NYC show.
Artist Statement
I make abstract, identity-based ceramics to communicate complex emotions. My functional and sculptural works are guided by conceptual ideas and focused on craft.
As a Filipino-Chinese American woman, I switch contexts and behavior to navigate different social, cultural, and economic spaces. My work uses contrasting aesthetics together with ambiguous form and surface to not only reflect these experiences, but to also counteract the side effects of my design career. The design industry values approachable and straightforward solutions, but this can lead to a culture of simplistic complacency. I am challenging this problem through my art by using divergent characteristics to evoke complicated emotion.
I produce functional vessels because they can simultaneously exist as art objects and as daily essential tools. Ceramic vessels have been made, used, and preserved for thousands of years and are integral components of humanity’s historical record. By creating functional work, I am connecting my audience to that extensive history within their own lives today.
In contrast, my sculptural work is an acknowledgement of the value of pure visual aesthetics. They are expressions of my design identity within the context of art. Each piece is an exploration of form intended to be as dynamic as possible in silhouette and gesture from all viewing angles.
My visual inspiration comes from the man-made and the natural realms; the most emotionally moving being phenomena that exist from both of these components. Abstractly, these categories could be described as planned and unplanned. By working in the medium of ceramics, where outcomes are still unpredictable despite careful forethought, I include the interplay of these concepts within the creative process.
My influences are varied and include ancient Chinese tripod food vessels and censers, li 鬲 and ding 鼎; Japanese Hagi ware 萩焼 and Iga ware 伊賀焼; and the aesthetics of wabi-sabi 侘寂. I have also been influenced by artists Alicia Penalba, Isamu Noguchi and Ruth Duckworth; designers Eva Zeisel, Rowena Reed-Kostellow, and Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe; and architect Zaha Hadid.