Welcome

I am J Musi, and I believe life is enriched by the unique expression of each one of us. 

I explore my perspective in everything I create, so that it is powerful and infused with life.
 

I was born in the mountains outside Mexico City, where I grew up among black lava sand dunes in a house of thick adobe walls built by my father. I had a creative childhood. My mother, a textile artist, filled our home with art supplies, and from her I learnt to draw, paint, batik, dye, sew, punch rugs and make jewelry.

As a child, I roamed the countryside looking for pre-Hispanic chards and figurines. Finding a link to the past filled me with wonder, and through my discovery of ceramic fragments I connected with ancient craftspeople. Although never complete, the chards felt strangely whole and self-sufficient, like symbols or visual stand-ins for the people who had made them.

At the start, clay was my preferred medium. I built large, hollow, coil-formed pieces that were unconscious simplifications of objects from daily life: vessels, buildings, trees and tools. As a silversmith, I continue to explore the same visual language I developed in ceramics, with the added challenge of making wearable pieces. When I draw or paint, my exploration is more graphic.

I continuously revisit self-contained forms in my work. My art speaks of solidity and weight, of rock and mineral associations. Each piece is still and frontal. As I work, I look for balance between positive and negative space so that both coexist.