Skuja Braden

Skuja Braden is a pseudonym representing the international collaborative duo Ingūna Skuja from Latvia and Melissa Braden from California, who work collectively and primarily with porcelain. Skuja Braden embodies the ‘absence of presence’ of an individual author, and these two artists have combined forces to create a fictive and alternate proxy identity.
Collaboration is the non-hierarchical and inclusive framework that Skuja Braden utilises as a method, strategy, and philosophy to explore alternative relations to power through a fusion of disparate identities, inclinations, and perceptions. Their works are conceptually based and created through a kaleidoscopic, multi-dimensional lens; they encompass a spectrum of perspectives - I, me, you, we, her, she, us, them, others, and everyone else - but are almost always expressed as a synthesis of painting and sculpture.
Skuja Braden's bold works blend decorative, literary, and political elements into a seamless statement, while utilising a material historically associated with absolute refinement. Their works can be found in private collections and museums around the world.
Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz, in 1940, described the merging and converging of cultures as transculturation, which encompasses the transitions of cultures blending and merging to create something entirely new. He referred to this phenomenon as neoculturation, which can be viewed as a positive and natural counterpoint to the more negative concepts of deculturation and appropriation.
“Melting Pot” reveals female history through time by layering overlapping images. The base depicts bones and skulls peeking out from beneath the first dripping layers, representing our collective ancient ancestors. The sleeping lady of Malta dreams in pictographs and symbols found in ancient caves and on rocks across all seven continents. Minoan ladies in blue hold up a snake that originates from a Mayan pot, and the snake wraps back around the Pot to chase the Minoans. Egyptian women float on blue glaze with flowers, while Geishas lounge around applying paint to their faces. Above them, a manly-looking Greek woman reclines while playing with her vessels, and two naked girls share cocktails on the other side. The work reflects a global continuum of our collective human existence.