Dominique Mediak-Pirigyi

Mediak-Pirigyi studied at the SUNY College of Art and Design at Alfred University, working in painting, ceramics and eventually settling on photography. She went on to earn my Master’s degree in Art Education and have been teaching at Sweet Home High School in Amherst, NY since 2003, with six years at the Middle School prior to that.

As a visual artist, she worked primarily in photography, both digital and darkroom, and exhibiting in the
medium. Her teaching is what brought her back to ceramics; while photography has a certain immediacy that
satisfies her creative urges, she was intrinsically drawn to working with her hands. Being able to construct pieces
that require a dierent level of critical thinking, experimentation and process drives her now to invest fully in
the medium. While Mediak-Pirigyi has been making ceramic work sporadically over the last decade, she has only recently begun to see her work as a collection, one that can grow and evolve, and has begun working in this manner.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My process is one of deconstruction and assembly. I create and dismantle manufactured forms, originating as
kitsch ceramic molds that are often discarded. By breaking down the forms, I create a collection of shapes

that are then brought together to create new, more elaborate functional forms. In some cases, the functional-
ity is subverted, through a desire to challenge the notion of the recognizeable and provoke curiosity and

playful interaction from the viewer. Color is approached simply, in an eort to marry the disparate parts, creat-
ing the illusion that they were always meant to be together.