Artist Statement

I used to explore ghost towns in the Japanese countryside, photographing and contemplating poignant scenes of abandoned spaces slowly being consumed by nature. During an intense period of upheaval and loss, I turned to those scenes of wreckage and ruin as a visual motif for my ceramic sculptures. Nostalgic items from my childhood have been discarded and entangled in the remains of decaying trees that have themselves been chopped, hollowed out, and overtaken by fungi, moss, or invasive vines. There is a sense of past struggle, but now they lay dormant, as the cycle of life quietly continues. In this way, I grapple with the inevitable impermanence of everything in this world.

Artist Bio

Caito Stewart (b.1985) is a multi-disciplinary visual artist based in Westchester, NY. After receiving her BFA in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis in 2007, she moved to Tokyo where she lived and worked for nearly ten years. She received her MFA in Sculpture from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY in 2020. She has exhibited in Tokyo and all over New York state, including at Clay Art Center in Port Chester, Kinosaito in Peekskill, Limner Gallery in Hudson, Field Projects in Manhattan, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, Site:Brooklyn, Below Grand (formerly Super Dutchess Gallery) in Manhattan, Atelier Modern in Larchmont, Womenswork.Art Gallery in Poughkeepsie, On Canal in SoHo, and The View in Old Forge.