BIO Cydney Ross was born, raised and resides in Kansas City, Missouri. She received her BFA in ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute. Ross took an interest to architecture as subject while traveling abroad to Kecskemét, Hungary at the International Ceramics Studio (ICS). She returned to the ICS during the summer of 2015 as an artist in residence. Sculptor and jewelry designer, Ross is the creator of her own wearable fashion line CYDNEY ROSS, featuring precision-crafted, porcelain jewelry and accessories. She is also the Gallery Coordinator for Belger Crane Yard Studios in Kansas City, Missouri where she continues her fine arts practice.

FINE ARTS STATEMENT I’m inspired by architectural structures that are being built, torn down or have faced massive destruction. The enormous sense of possibility prior to a bridge’s completion with the foundation taking shape and the structural framework being put into place, stirs my curiosity. To see built environments ravaged by war makes me wonder how we got here and where we’re heading in our current political-social climate.

Though my building methods are calculated, there is still an amount of spontaneity that occurs throughout the making process, especially when the rules of chemistry and gravity come into play. These forces aid me in depicting the passage of time that follows all things. I use unconventional processes in ceramics, like intentionally over-firing or freezing then thawing sculptures to encourage swaying, slumping and collapsing. Examining architecture, its’ relation with the earth and how it shapes communities  is my exploration of liminal spaces where the tension between creation and destruction resides.