Skuja Braden
Skuja Braden portrait in porcelain 2020\n\nSkuja Braden is a pseudonym & the surnames of International duo Ing\u016bna Skuja (Latvia), & Melissa Braden (USA) working collectively & primarily with porcelain. Skuja Braden represents an \u201cabsence of presence\u201d of an individual author, where two artists have combined forces creating a fictive and alternate proxy identity.\n\nCollaboration is the non-hierarchical framework Skuja Braden utilize as method, strategy, and philosophy, exploring alternative relations to power through a fusion of disparate identities, inclinations, and perceptions. The work is conceptually based, but always expressed as a synthesis of painting & sculpture. Their works blend decorative, literary, and political elements into hybrid forms utilizing material that is historically associated with absolute refinement.\n\nAfternoon Matinee, porcelain (65x39x21 cm) 2021\n\nFlower Power, porcelain (64x33x30) 2022\n\nRock-a-bye, porcelain, stoneware, wood, and wax (56x64xx36cm) 2008