Arts, Etc.Fine Art

Ceramic exhibit celebrates those ‘Outcast’

“Rejects and Residue” is one of Alison Petty Ragguette’s pieces in her new exhibition, “Outcast.” Two of Ragguette’s students, Ibel Sinohuiz and Sapira Cheuk, came to show their support. Ragguette said that “Rejects and Residue” has a pink color because of the cobalt carbonate and she mentions that the piece also included components of her earlier works. / photo by Berenice Gonzalez
“Rejects and Residue” is one of Alison Petty Ragguette’s pieces in her new exhibition, “Outcast.” Two of Ragguette’s students, Ibel Sinohuiz and Sapira Cheuk, came to show their support. Ragguette said that “Rejects and Residue” has a pink color because of the cobalt carbonate and she mentions that the piece also included components of her earlier works. / photo by Berenice Gonzalez

Aryn Plax
Staff Writer

The American Museum of Ceramic Art hosted the opening reception of Alison Petty Ragguette’s exhibit “Outcast” Saturday.

Raguette combined ceramic work with porcelain and silicone to create unusual images partly modeled after ordinary objects such as children’s toys, pipes, valves and tools.

Her work drew from her personal life, ideas about culture, chaos and the outsider perspective. Raguette said her work is starting to address the marginalized, ‘other’ experience.

Most who hear the terms “marginalized” and “other” assume they are spoken in the context of social justice, but Raguette uses the words to refer to untold, unique perspectives. Her works, such as “Problem Child,” “Rejects and Residue,” and “ Mother-In-Law,” illustrated her understanding of the “other” experience.

“It was titled ‘Problem Child’ only because it was really hard to make,” Raguette said.

Raguette said that she put labor and love into the work, but like a “problem child,” the sculpture did not become what she had envisioned. Instead, the finished product resembled a hose coiling on itself, part of the tube white, and part of it coated with purple silicone.

“Really, it’s its own thing. It behaves in its own way,” Raguette said.

“And now, it’s one of my best pieces.”

Another sculpture, “Mother-In-Law,” was also forged out of a sense of conflict. Raguette created a work with hose bibs attached to a T pipe with bubbling goo after a conflict with her mother-in-law. After she gave the work its current title, she came to an understanding.

“I always had this incredible empathy,” Raguette said, describing her feelings toward her mother-in-law. “I think that the mother-in-law is another character that is outcast.”

While some of Raguette’s work represents rejected characters, “Rejects and Residue” is made of rejected material. The wall is covered with what appears to be pink fluid dripping down.

At the bottom of the piece lay broken shards of ceramic works, some of which are over 10 years old.

She believes that every object has a soul, and as an object maker, she gives each object importance in the world. By creating “Rejects and Residue,” she gave significance to the shard pile that would have otherwise been discarded.

“It felt really therapeutic to repurpose it,” Raguette said.

Raguette is not alone when she creates these sculptures.

Her assistant, Alcira Mendoza, spent two to three years helping Raguette prepare ceramic materials in the studio.

“Some of the pieces in there are the ones I sanded,” Mendoza said, pointing to the pile of shards at the bottom of “Rejects and Residue.”

Mendoza does not help Ragguette form ideas for her work, but she helps bring them to life.

“The outcome of them are trippy,” Mendoza said.

Andrea Rubino, the museum’s exhibitions manager and graphics designer, was fascinated by the strange shapes in Raguette’s work. She also enjoyed “Rejects and Residue.”

“I got to witness her make it,” Rubino said, referring to the pink dribble on the wall.

When Raguette proposed her work for the exhibition, Rubino decided which pieces were to be featured.

“We came up with several different ways to organize them,” Rubino said. “I was deciding which ones to really highlight.”

Rubino was intrigued by Raguette’s combination of silicone and porcelain. She had never seen an artist use those two materials together.

Raguette had used porcelain and silicone in her previous work. She says that porcelain is associated with “ high culture,” and silicone with “ low culture.”

By combining these materials, Raguette sought to combine two spheres of the world that are otherwise separate. This combination is present in each piece at the exhibit, and it is her way of addressing the marginalized, ‘other’ experience.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 30 at the American Museum of Ceramic Art.

More information can be found on the museum’s website, amoca.org.

Aryn Plax can be reached at aryn.plax@laverne.edu.

Other Stories Bio
Berenice Gonzalez
Other Stories Bio
Previous article
Rose examines religious connections
Next article
Leopard Scoreboard

1 COMMENT

Comments are closed.

Latest Stories

Related articles

Arts, Etc.

Japanese ceramics exhibit highlights evolution of artform

"Tōgei: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics" is currently on display at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona.
Arts, Etc.

Happenings

Campus and community arts events for the week of Sep. 4, 2026.
Arts, Etc.

AMOCA showcases stop-motion animation

The American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona  has a current exhibit of numerous artists' stop-motion clay short films. 
Arts, Etc.

Happenings

Campus and community arts events for the week of Aug. 28, 2026.