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Xinia Marín
Xinia Marín is currently a Professor of Ceramics at West Florida University
in Pensacola. For the past seven years she has partnered with her husband,
Peter King, at StoneHaus Architectural Ceramics in Pensacola where she
shares in the production of architectural designs, teaches workshops, and
specializes in developing and perfecting glazes. Her work has been exhibited
in both solo and group shows in both the United States and in Costa Rica,
her native land.
Xinia grew up in a small house only 300 yards from the location of the first
European settlement in Costa Rica, "Ciudad de Lodo" (City of Mud); she was
deeply influenced by the handful of families in her area who were dedicated
to the production of traditional ceramics at home. Years later, through
scholarships, she gained her Licenciatura in art (Master's equivalent) from
the University of Costa Rica in 1976. Ceramics continued to be her passion
and having learned more about the traditional ceramics of Costa Rica, she
traveled repeatedly to Guaitil de Nicoya near Costa Rica's Pacific Coast
where all the families in this small rural town made ceramics. There, she
learned not only many pre-Columbian techniques but also many of the local
myths and superstitions regarding the making of ceramics.
Today, Xinia works with more contemporary styles and techniques beside her
husband at StoneHaus. In October 2001, the couple mounted a magnificent
exhibition of their work at the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, DC
to coincide with the Tile Heritage "Tiles in the Capital" symposium. Even
with Xinia's current success, she still retains her childhood passion for
the traditional ceramics of the "Ciudad de Lodo."
Visit www.peterkingceramics.com.
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