Poison Ivy Kintsugi Demonstration and Artist Talk
Artist Marielena Ferrer will present a live demonstration and talk on her innovative use of poison ivy lacquer-based kintsugi on Monday, November 17, at 5 PM, in the Studio Arts Building Atrium at UMass Amherst.
Kintsugi is the traditional Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using urushi—a natural lacquer made from the sap of the urushi tree—mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Long before the invention of modern adhesives, urushi served as a remarkably durable and organic bonding material. As part of her MFA thesis at SUNY New Paltz, Ferrer experimented with creating a version of urushi from poison ivy, a plant in the same botanical family as the urushi tree.
“I focused on poison ivy as my raw material because I empathized with it and instantly recognized its metaphorical connection with the socially excluded,” Ferrer wrote in her thesis at arm’s length. “The plant’s abundance (…) stood out to me as well. I thought, ‘If nature produces such a great and plentiful amount of poison ivy, it must have a good reason.’ So I decided to explore the plant botanically and see if I could also find a reason that made sense to me, my experience, and my art.”
This free, public event is supported by the Advancing Community, Democracy, and Dialogue Grant, the National Art Strategies Creative Community Seed Grant and the Arthur F. Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies’ Renaissance of the Earth Teaching Fellowship.
Marielena Ferrer is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice explores the role of art in advancing social change through political, public, and community-based projects. Her work has earned numerous distinctions, including the International Sculpture Center’s 2023 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award and the 2024 Ulster County Executive’s Arts “Artivist” Award. She previously received the Red Goat Award from the Midtown Kingston Arts District (2021) and was the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum (2022). Ferrer holds BFA and MFA degrees in Sculpture from SUNY New Paltz and currently serves as Executive Director of Unison Arts in New Paltz, NY. She is also a board member of Family of Woodstock and serves on the advisory boards of Arts Mid-Hudson and the Center for Photography at Woodstock.
The UMass Studio Arts Building is located at 110 Thatcher Road, Amherst, MA. The atrium is on the second floor and is accessible by elevator. Parking is available in the lots directly east and northwest of the building. For more information, contact Michael Medeiros at @email.