These gravity-defying ceramics stacked constructions struggle to soar beyond the boundaries of the spaces that contain them, often appearing to teeter in the brink of collapse. They are essentially diasporic, coming from various territorial and conceptual geographies that are the instruments of connection between today and the past and a new future. I try to create pieces where a process of mestizaje capable of arming dissident ways of live, intertwined with my family history.
The colors, bright, chaotic, disruptive of a rich tropical load, bright light, universe of the Caribbean pallet, have archetypal symbols connected to the African heritage, visual party made plastic, symphonic permanence, with a transmission of joy, cheerful feelings that evoke directly the therapeutic action of planting, building and maintaining a garden, in this case, a permanent garden, which is mud in a state of crystallization (ceramics).
Untitled XXXVI. Glazed ceramic Sculpture
Charo Oquet is a Miami-based artist that uses painting, installation, performance, photography and film, among other media, to investigate issues of the displacement, identity, migration, gender, or sociopolitical and cultural issues and to document and reflect on issues of de-colonial aesthesis and the role of contemporary culture in a global reality. Her work is a subjective observation by someone who is concerned with her surroundings and the culture she left behind. Her interdisciplinary work has been extensively exhibited internationally and has been well-reviewed by art critics and recognized by scholars in books and other publications. In addition to reviews in the Miami Herald, Atlantica Art Journal, African Arts, Art in America, Art Nexus, and Art New Zealand, among others, Antonio Zaya Publisher produced and distributed a book of her work, Charo Oquet – Lo Que Ve La Sirena (2002). Her work is also included in such books and catalogs as New Hoodoo - Art of a Forgotten Faith (2008), Files by Octavio Zaya, Miami Contemporary Artists New Zealand's National Museum Te Papa Calendar 2009, Dominican Contemporary Artists, and Supermix. Oquet has had numerous solo exhibitions in Museums and galleries around the world such as the Bass Museum, Miami Beach; Casal Solleric, Palma de Mallorca, Convento de Santo Domingo, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain ( curated by Antonio Zaya) and Oquet’s work has been included in numerous international exhibitions. Oquet’s work is in several museum collections such as the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL; CAAM, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Word Bank, Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, Spain; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida; New Zealand National Museum, Wellington, N.Z.; Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; Govett-Brewter Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand; Foresight Collection, Auckland, New Zealand; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wellington, New Zealand; Gulf & Western Americas Corp., New York; Museo de las Casas Reales, Dominican Republic and Museo del Arte Moderno, Dominican Republic.
