Bosco Sodi

Mexican, b. 1970

Sodi mixes raw pigment with sawdust, wood, pulp, natural fibers, and glue to create the dense surfaces of his monochrome paintings. As the layers of material dry, structures form without the guidance or intervention of the artist. These fissured landscapes are both products of the artist’s creative process and of nature’s unpredictable, chance-driven forces

While Sodi creates his paintings in his New York studio, his sculptural practice turns more directly toward the traditions of his Mexican heritage. At his studio in Oaxaca, he extracts raw earth from the ground and combines it with water and sand to form clay. Using this elemental material, one of ancestral significance, he creates minimalist sculptures shaped by hand into smooth, solid cubes. The forms are left to dry in the sun before being fired in a kiln, hand-built from brick and coconut husks. During this process, the material transforms in hue and texture, giving each cube its own distinct identity. Stacked into columns, the cubes relate to one another while retaining their individuality

More recently, Sodi began creating spheres through a similar process. The artist shapes wet balls of clay by hand before leaving them to dry for four months in the shade and three months in the sun. The works are then fired in a traditional kiln for sixteen to twenty-four hours

Sodi also collects solidified volcanic magma from the Ceboruco volcano in Mexico to create his rock sculptures. He covers these fragments of the natural world with ceramic glaze and precious metals. As they are fired, the volcanic rocks metamorphose into sculptural objects that bring together geological processes, traditional craft, and contemporary art-making techniques

In 2022, the artist founded Assembly, a nonprofit exhibition venue in Monticello, New York. In 2013, he founded Fundación Casa Wabi near Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico, an arts center dedicated to promoting cultural exchange between international contemporary artists and local communities. Designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the foundation’s headquarters hosts artist residencies, exhibitions, and other cultural initiatives