Debra Broz

Mystery Friends

2018

Debra Broz collects and deconstructs unwanted ceramic figurines, stuffed animals, and furniture, then combines them into reimagined versions of their former selves. She searches curbside discards, thrift stores, and online resale sites for things that were once valued, but have since become unloved. Through a lens of uncanny humor, she considers identity, consumerism, sentimentality, and the process of losing and regaining attention and love. Broz grew up in rural Missouri with a family collection of ceramic animals mostly made from mass-produced molds and hand-painted by her grandmother. She became a collector herself, accumulating miniature figurines and various small curiosities. In 2003 she received her BFA in Studio Art from Maryville University - St. Louis. In 2005 she moved to Austin, Texas where she serendipitously found a job working as an apprentice ceramics restorer. This was a breakthrough in her art practice, revealing the techniques that allowed her to begin altering ceramics. She began accumulating animal figurines from thrift stores, showing her first collection of ceramic reconstructions in 2009. Broz was very involved in the Austin art community. She managed an art studio and gallery, co-edited an art magazine, and started her own ceramics restoration business. In 2014, Broz moved to Los Angeles where she continues her art practice and her work in ceramics restoration. Broz exhibits with Track 16 Gallery in Los Angeles, Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia, and has had exhibits at the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Austin Museum of Art, and Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Her work has been featured in print in Ceramics Monthly, American Craft, and Frankie magazines; and in two international surveys of contemporary ceramics. She is also involved with two artist-run spaces, Monte Vista Projects and Gallery Also.