Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1929–1995
Known mainly for her ceramic sculptures, Celeida Tostes started her career in the visual arts in the 1960s, with a degree in Painting from the National School of Fine Arts. Her work is marked by a deep connection with the earth, and an investigation of themes related to ancestry, the cycles of life and the dialogue between the female body and nature. The artist was also an influential professor at Parque Lage's School of Visual Arts and, in the early 1980s, began important land-based work with the community of Morro do Chapéu Mangueira, taking on the coordination of the project Formation of Utility Ceramics Centres in Rio de Janeiro's Urban Periphery Communities. In this project, she instructed groups of community residents in the handling of local clay and the production of artwork. Through the practice of sculpture and performance, Celeida Tostes brought together clay, body and spirit with rare wit. Thus, she explored the mystery of embodiment, the plural forms in which life is manifested, and the profound connections between the body and the ground it inhabits, as well as the the eternal intrigues between fertility, birth, death and rebirth.