"My art is my life. It’s like eating, you have to eat everyday."
Magdalena Suarez FrimkessMagdalena finds inspiration everywhere. Her artworks often feature recognisable figures from American pop culture, like Minnie and Mickey Mouse.
Back in the 1940s, when Magdalena was a teenager, she fell pregnant with a married man from the military and had to flee her homeland because of the social stigma. She made a life for herself in Chile, and one life-changing day, stumbled upon an advert for an art course at the Catholic University in Santiago.
Magdalena soon found herself top of the class, renowned in the university and beyond for her unorthodox approach to sculpture and ceramics, which, in 1962, earned her the accolade of the most daring sculptor working in Chile.
Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Michael Frimkess with their daughter
"You won’t believe it, but it was real thing. It sounds like a soap opera."
Magdalena Suarez FrimkessMagdalena soon moved her life and art to the United States where she met Michael Frimkess, her future husband and lifelong collaborator. Six decades on the duo still share a studio, but it wasn’t until 2013 that Magdalena had her first solo show at the age of 84.
Untitled, 2016
Untitled, 2003
Untitled, 2016
Even though these wonky, totally enchanting ceramics are bursting with symbolism and iconography, Magdalena’s approach is refreshingly frank.
“I only care what my work looks like, I am indifferent to what it means.”
Magdalena Suarez Frimkess
