Susana Espinosa (1933-2022) Puerto Rican, Figural Ceramic Plate. Signed and dated "76" in center. Depicts a seated feminine figure contemplating a leaf. 

Size: 11 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 1 in. 

#2428 #95 . 

Susana Espinosa was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1933. Supported early by her family in her artistic efforts, she earned a BFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1953, working in a ceramic factory for five years before opening her own workshop. Turmoil throughout the country in the wake of the deposition of Juan Perón led her to flee in 1961, spending the next seven years in Trinidad and Tabago. In 1968 she moved to Puerto Rico, where she opened a new studio alongside Hal Lasky and Isabel Rivera. She met the architect Bernardo Hogan and he became an additional partner after they wed. She became known throughout the world for hand-built sculptures, typically figural and quasi-mythological, in everything from wall art to dinnerware to free-standing busts. Her use of glazes was sparing, allowing fire and oxides to give monochromatic hues to her work. In 1977 she joined the Manos Group and in 1980 founded Casa Candina, significantly expanding her working relationships and offering classes in ceramics. In 1989 she was invited to become a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, becoming a passionate advocate for art education in third world countries. Her works can be found in permanent exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico, the Museum of Latin American Art in California, and the Museo della Ceramica D’arte in Faenza, Italy, as well as in countless private collections. She passed away in 2022, honored afterwards by the government of Puerto Rico as the mother of modern ceramics in the country.