Photo by  Reba Jensen

 ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Based in Providence, Rhode Island, Elizabeth Peña-Alvarez is a sculptor working primarily with clay. She has an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design as well as an MFA in Artisanry from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her work is exhibited nationally. She has participated in several residencies including the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Penland School for Craft, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, and most recently, the Hambidge Center in Georgia. Born of Ecuadorian heritage in Miami, Florida, the city's abundant and varied vegetation has had a lasting impact and continues to drive her studio work. 


I explore Post-Traumatic Growth through the interplay of dichotomous themes such as light and darkness, life and loss, and growth and destruction. Rooted in the theory of positive transformation, Post-Traumatic Growth reframes life’s most profound challenges—like the death of a child or a cancer diagnosis—into opportunities for beauty and light. My visual language draws from the natural world, incorporating elements of human anatomy and vegetation. These influences converge in my biomorphic sculptures, where meticulously detailed hybrid forms of botanical and anatomical elements evoke transformation and transcendent growth.


Photo by Tom O'Malley

Photo by Viera Levitt

Photo by Elizabeth Peña-Alvarez