The Forge is proud to present the opening of Hot Wild Alive, the debut solo exhibition by Nashville-based interdisciplinary artist Juliana Morgan Alvarez, on May 29th from 6–9 PM.

Known for their evocative performance work and recent sculptural creations, Juliana expands on pieces first seen at Elephant Gallery earlier this year. Their hand-built ceramic sculptures—smoke-marked and flame-scorched—call to mind ancient landforms and tender bodies paused mid-motion. Delicately carved, both grounded and hung, these works of elemental force elicit sensory interaction. At the center of the exhibit is “Collapse,” a supernova-like installation of over 750 suspended tiles.

The coloration on every work in the exhibit is left behind by live-flames. Intentionally exposed to erosion and breakage, pit-firing violently pushes the pieces toward evolution. Awaiting the mostly inevitable high-pitched ping that rings out from the fire signifying a fissure eruption somewhere along its form, caring for the bodies after the embers have cooled becomes a process of healing fortification. 

One may read ocean currents in the patterns enrobing the sculptures. Or well worn wind patterns. Or paths carved by those escaping to find better lives for their families, as Juliana’s ancestors did when leaving Romania, when leaving Poland, when leaving Cuba, when leaving… The work invites you to touch its animal hide-like appearance; fur that converges into whorls of a fingerprint or advancing lateral marks of a cracked nautilus shell. At the same time each one is stoic, resistant and fragile, with its tarnished, sooty surface that speaks to a past event that has not been witnessed by the audience. A remnant from another life displayed, but not fully known.

Hot Wild Alive explores themes of trauma, transformation, and tactile movement. A performer with an MFA from California Institute of the Arts (2020), Juliana found their voice in sculpture after moving to Nashville and developing their work as a fellow of Buchanan Arts under the mentorship of ceramic artist John Donovan. Their work now stands in quiet power: shaped by personal history, ancestral movement, and natural phenomena. As part of the show, Juliana will engage in a month-long durational performance, disassembling “Collapse” and gradually reassembling it into a new form by June 30th. Visitors are invited to witness and even take part in this evolving process—touching art, quite literally, as it comes undone and becomes something new.

On view May 29th - June 30th.