Sculptor Roxana Casillas was born in Mexico City. It was the inspiration all around her that
became her earliest artistic influences. “My father often took me to museums, galleries, and
historic places and created in me a deep love for history and art since I was very young,”
she explains. “It was wonderful seeing the actual work of great artists like Rivera, Tamayo,
Kahlo, and the incredible churches with all their intricate carvings and gold leaf, as well as
the lifelike statues of Christ and saints. I fell in love back then with ancient art techniques
and methods that still inspire me today, such as polychrome and gilding.”
Roxana states that she is also heavily influenced by the use of colors in the Mexican culture.
“I usually integrate it in all of or in portions of my work. I can’t help it; I think in colors. Color
is usually present in the initial concept of all my pieces.”
At age 16, Roxana and her family moved to San Diego, Calif., and she enrolled in sculpting
and art school. “One day my sister wanted to start an art class at an art school and didn’t
want to go alone. So I started a wood carving class offered at her same schedule. Before
long, I was involved in gilding and sculpture classes as well,” she reflects. “I was doing
regular school in the mornings and art school in the afternoons. My sister dropped out after
two weeks, and I’m still carving. Funny thing is that she came back to art years later and
became a painter and art teacher.”
Roxana continued her education and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Set Design for
theater. In 1993, following several years of residence in Los Angeles, Roxana moved to Pietrasanta,
Italy, where her studies in sculpting continued under the watch of master artists
and artisans who specialized in marble carving. During her 15-year stay in Italy, Roxana
learned invaluable lessons. “The lessons were many,” she says. “Some key ones: Art is best
learned by making it, mistakes and all. Use any means needed to achieve the desired result.
Think and rethink a piece as you go. Simplicity is hard to achieve.”
Many of Roxana’s striking sculptures are of faces. “I am mainly drawn to people’s faces and
expressions. I find faces tremendously emotional,” she explains. “When I think of an emotion
I want to convey I usually relate it to a face.”
Roxana says that her work is experiencing a transition of sorts. “Lately, my work has shifted
in that some of the initial concepts start with someone else’s face in mind and have become
self-portraits in the end. My work is based on transition and transformation, a sort of reinventing
of the self or a state of becoming. I think the transitions that have occurred in last
few years of my life are finding their way into my work. [It is] impossible to separate the artist
from the work.”
Roxana lives and works in Palm Springs, Calif. She has a second studio in Phoenix, Ariz., and
continues to work with marble studios and bronze foundries in Pietrasanta, Italy.
Access the online issue at ArtDiction MarchApril 2017 to see more of her work.
