Portrait of ceramic artist Mateo Aranda in his studio. 
ARTIST STATEMENT
I move through the world collecting. Some things I look for; others seem to find me. I follow what creates a reaction in me, fascination, pleasure, beauty, a memory, a laugh, a question. Some of it comes from the reality immediately around me; some from what I think of as the field, an infinite totality to which we belong. Curiosity and excitement tell me where to go next. I want the work to remain as changeable as I am. 

For now, much of what I collect finds its way into clay. I begin with structure, proportion, balance, complexity, and then work through detail, following lines around the object, introducing moments of surprise, excitement, or tenderness. The material has its own say. I follow the form I want to create, while leaving room for the clay to push back. I work until something difficult to define begins to appear: presence. 

For me, beauty is an act of generosity. It comes from attention, dedication, technique, and the desire to offer something visually pleasurable. I want an object to create that small click in the mind before it needs to be understood. Once a form enters the world, it can connect, move, amuse, inspire or open a question. It can become part of someone else's experience, and however slightly, change their reality. I collect from the world and from the field. What I collect becomes form, and form enters the world again. Form generates field.


BIOGRAPHY
Mateo Aranda is a Mexican-Belgian artist based in Brussels. Trained in physics and photonics, he developed his artistic practice alongside a career in science and technology. Ceramics had been present in his life from an early age through his family, but in 2020 he began developing an independent sculptural practice of his own.

Largely self-taught as an artist, Aranda has built his practice around a curiosity-led approach to learning. His experience with formal education made him question systems in which fascination is often postponed until the necessary foundations have been mastered. In his own practice, he reverses that order: he begins with whatever excites or intrigues him, then learns what he needs in order to pursue it.

His scientific background gave him tools for this process — researching, questioning, experimenting, testing and learning from results — but curiosity and excitement determine the direction. Working primarily with hand-built stoneware, each new idea becomes an opportunity to acquire a technique, investigate a material or enter an unfamiliar territory. He lives and works in Brussels.