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Marcia Oliver and Andrea Pichaida
FOREVER ASCENDING
FINAL WEEKEND!
The TCC Gallery has kicked off its 2025 exhibition season with a show that will surely be memorable, Forever Ascending, showcasing the work of Marcia Oliver and Andrea Pichaida.
Marcia Oliver, a painter and printmaker who has called Taos her home for nearly fifty years, presents a wealth of new work that includes oil paintings, monoprints, and collage, that demonstrate why she is so respected as an abstract expressionist.
Joining Oliver is renowned Santa Fe ceramic artist, Andrea Pichaida, showing more than 30 vibrant works of sculptural ceramics that highlight the artist's remarkable mastery of the medium and her ability to express her love of life through an array of ever-inventive creations.
Together, Oliver and Pichaida find a perfect compliment to each other in Forever Ascending, through March 23rd at the TCC Gallery.
View additional images of Andrea Pichaida's work on exhibit.
View additional images of M. Oliver's paintings on exhibit.
About Andrea Pichaida
Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, Andrea graduated from the Catholic University of Chile with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts in 1987. She widely exhibited from 1985-2010 and her work is held in public as well as private collections in Chile, Argentina, Germany, Brazil, USA, Canada, Spain, and The Vatican. In 2010, Andrea moved to Santa Fe, NM, where she married Dr. Dave Gonzales.
Since relocating, Andrea's work has been widely exhibited and collected thoughout the state and has been the recipient of numerous awards. She was, until 2024, president of the NMPCA (New Mexico Potters and Clay Artists), the largest state-wide organization of ceramic artists, taught at the former Santa Fe Clay and privately at her studio, and also has led workshops at the Taos Ceramics Center.
Prior to moving to the US, Andrea worked as an Associate Professor and Head of the Sculpture Department at the Art School of the Catholic University between 1994 -2010. During that period she also worked in many community projects throughout Chile, to create a better environment for low income areas and the underserved.
She was commissioned to create three different Stations of The Cross in Santiago, Chile, and in 2004 was commissioned to sculpt a Prayer Vase for the Schoenstadt Community at the Vatican, selected by Pope John Paul II.
Her book “El Arte de la Tierra y el Fuego, Manual práctico para el alumno” (The Art of Cay and Fire, Student’s manual) was published in 2003.
About M. Oliver
Marcia Oliver, painter and printmaker, arrived in Taos in 1968 on a Wurlitzer Foundation Residency after receiving a master’s degree from San Jose State. She never left. Oliver’s roots are in Abstract Expressionism that she was introduced to when living in New York at the age of 21. In describing her work, art critic/writer Ann Landi eloquently
notes, “Oliver finds a way to an imagery and a luminous contemplative cosmos that are all her own.”
Despite her age of 86, Oliver spent the better part of a year isolated in her self-built adobe studio creating the magical assemblage of paintings, monoprints, and collage for this exhibit. Reflecting on her work, Oliver writes, “My process is one of intuition, impulse, and editing – extending from an interior landscape.” She adds, “The stains of Frankenthaler, markings of Twombly, and the spartan discipline of Martin have been touchstones in this journey.”
Oliver has had more than sixteen solo exhibits from coast to coast including the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, and thirty group exhibits including the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections including San Jose State College, Museum of New Mexico, The Helen Wurlitzer Foundation, Pensacola Museum of Art, University of Arizona, University of Illinois, Urbana, and the Anthony Quinn Collection.
The work of Marcia Oliver and Andrea Pichaida will be on exhibit at the TCC Gallery from February 1 thru March 23, 2025.