The Full Story
About
Hi, my name is Yocasta Pichardo. I'm a queer, afro latine making ceramic art based in Brooklyn, NY.
won't you celebrate with me
History
I took my first ceramic wheel throwing course at Syracuse University during 2013 as an undergraduate, I have been hooked since. I have taken four ceramic classes ranging from beginner to intermediate hand building and wheel throwing during the past decade. I am well versed with both methods however, I have more experience and am drawn to the wheel. My most recent ceramic endeavor was a year long membership at ClayHouse Brooklyn. There I was able to get in tuned with what I wanted to create; the modernized version of Muñeca sin Rostro.
Passion Project
As a Dominican, in my culture, there is an unofficial National doll called Muñeca sin Rostro or loosely translated to faceless doll. This has been my passion project for the last several months. I grew up seeing these dolls in every home but I never understood the significance until recently. Our people are of mixed races; Haitian, Taino (Indigenous), African, Spaniard, etc. It is important to remember this today, especially because of the current racial discrimination, xenophobia, and violence against Haitians and other black people. There is so much colorism ingrained in the Dominican culture and ultimately in the Dominican government and I would like to challenge this within my work. I’ve been working on creating my own version of the Muñecas (dolls) to highlight big bodies, “pelo malo” (bad hair), and a more “modern” look. I’ve named this collection Morena con Pelo Malo, Black girl with bad hair. So far, combining wheel throwing and hand building methods I have created five dolls. As my passion project, I aspire to continue to create ceramic art that analyzes aspects of my American and Dominican culture.
