Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Marc Armitano Domingo | Episode 482
Marc Armitano Domingo was born in Northern California. He spent his childhood traveling to Venezuela where his parents are from and fell in love with Baroque music from a young age. His Grandparent's house was covered in Venezuelan art, Bromeliads, and a vast collection of Orchids on their roof. His passion for Baroque music led him to study Historical Performance on Viola da Gamba where he learned more about Baroque and Renaissance art and especially ornamentation. In Baroque music, pieces are usually left quite bare and minimal and it is up to the performer to add expression, graces, trills, and other agrément. In this style, Marc uses simple forms and adds appliqués, etchings, and other decorating techniques to create variety and beauty in a piece. Most of his work has some sort of utilitarian purpose.
SPONSORS
Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com
For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com
When you sit down to work do you start with a story in mind or do you start and have the story get revealed?
I always have something prepared before I sit down to work. Not so much for the bugs, the bugs kind of speak for themselves. But when I do one of the etched pieces or one that is more illustrative I always do a lot of research online seeing what painters I like what engravers I like and see what kind of myth or person I want to honor in my work.
Why is it important to be a story teller with ceramics?
For me I want to promote music so all the music I listen to has some sort of story unless it is a concerto, but even a random piece like a sonata or concerto that doesn’t have a real story the composer or the person that might have premiered the piece has some sort of story. That is what I think is interesting.
Is the artist’s voice still important in our world today?
Depends where. I think maybe in America not as much. Maybe in France they respect their artists a little more. But I definitely think there are a celebrity artist kind of thing happening now where people like art because it is famous, not because they like it.
Do you feel making a living off of your art compromises the story of your art?
A little bit. Not really for the story but I definitely feel that I have to make a certain amount and sell a certain amount to be able to live. But that doesn’t really compromise a story or change what I want to make.
How do you go about pricing your work in terms of the value of the story that is being told vs the value of the medium being used?
For me it is a lot of time in and honestly a lot of porcelain dust in the air so I am concerned about my health in some sort of way. That is part of it. Another part of it is seeing whatever else is in the market and seeing what kind of prices other people have. I did some research on that and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t underselling what I have. And I have to run the whole business by myself so that means uploading things to the website, taking pictures, shipping, making it is just basically half the work. The other half is running my business. It does take a lot of time.
How do you want your art to fit into the world today?
I want it to be a family heirloom. I want it to be passed down through generations and have it be like a pretty object that your grandmother might have had.
According to you bio you have lived in California, Venezuela, and New York. What do you love about all three of the place you have lived?
California is where I grew up and I feel most at home at and inspired by the beauty. I love hiking around California. Especially Northern California, I don’t like Southern California as much. The Bay Area is awesome. Venezuela I haven’t been able to visit in a really long time because of the political climate there, but I kind of have a fantasy about it now and I have been aspiring to go through all the pictures that I took there and see all the pictures of my grandma’s garden and bromeliad wall, and orchid collection and be inspired by her too. She is a really cool, awesome lady. And New York I just live in. It’s nice but I don’t really feel like I fit into that artist community that much or the people in New York, but I think it is a good place to be an up and coming ceramic artist.
Book
Contact:
Instagram: @botticelliceramics