Past
Ritwik Varma (b. 2000) earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Davis in 2022. During his final year, he enrolled in a beginner wheel throwing class at the UC Davis Craft Center, where he discovered a passion for clay that quickly grew into an obsessive studio practice. Within two years, he began teaching wheel throwing at the Craft Center, marking the beginning of his career as both a ceramic artist and educator.
Present
Currently, Ritwik Varma's practice explores how clay can serve as a medium for questioning the relationships we have with one another, with the world around us, and with ourselves. His current body of work begins with an intuitive process of making, in which sculptures emerge from immediate emotional and psychological states. As each piece develops, the material reveals unexpected forms and associations, inviting him to reconsider his own place in the world. Through these works, Varma encourages viewers to reflect on their own relationships with their inner lives, with others, and with the environments they inhabit.
In the future Ritwik hopes to continue making sculptures that help people see their world differently. He wants people to recognize themselves in the work, the parts they've lost, the parts they've gained. He hopes people will get lost in these sculptures and all the little moments in them, and recognize that it's the little moments that make up so much of the volume of our lives.