Nubia Ortega
b. 1976, El Salvador ∙ CE artist since 2003
Photo by Peter Prato
Nubia Ortega brings her careful hand and attention to detail to every artwork, no matter the medium. Ortega uses color masterfully, playfully balancing earthy natural tones with bright calculated splashes of pure saturated color.
A focused artist, she spends ample time on each piece, first methodically laying out a composition and then carefully choosing colors to fill in her landscapes and portraits.
Ortega excels at clay hand building, creating stylized human figures and plant forms and firing them with ultra-colorful glazes. Ortega’s ceramic fish, cars, busts, and assorted animals dazzle the sense with texture in both her decorative elements and detailed application of glazes. Her ceramic sculptures begin with hearty and simple forms that come to life as she adds coils, circles, and details.
Select Exhibitions & Projects
2020
UNTITLED ART FAIR , San Francisco, CA
Mother Nature! at Outsider Art Fair 2020, New York, NY
2018
"From" All Over the Place, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, San Francisco, CA
Nine Hearts Exploring, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Faces and Places in the City, Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Library, San Francisco, CA
2016
Tabula Rasa, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Celebrating a Vision: Art and Disability, San Francisco Airport, San Francisco, CA
2015
Tree of Life, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2014
Shoerageous, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
A Curious Menagerie, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2013
San Francisco's Calacas: Day of the Dead, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2012
Fabulous, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2011
Hands on Clay, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
The Masters, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2010
Spectrum, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2009
TV and Me, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2008
INsects INsectos, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2006
Sacred Places, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Vessels, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2004
Functionable, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Critters, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
