Maria Ceppi
Maria Ceppi (b. 1963, Visp, CH) lives and works in Valais, CH. The broad repertoire of her artistic production spans sculpture, painting, and public art projects. She deals with the poetry of everyday life, which she discovers in the seemingly insignificant tools, devices and materials with which we surround ourselves. These objects become the heroes of stories and - disassembled and combined with other elements - are brought together in astonishing new constellations. Although seemingly purposeless and alienated, these objects retain a knowledge and memory of their various origins while creating possibilities for new narratives of the uncanny and absurd. In their hybridity, they reveal an autonomous sculptural presence.
Ceppi studied at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris and earned a Master of Art in the Public Sphere at ECAV in Sierre. Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions at major institutions such as the Valais Art Museum (Sion), Fondation Louis Moret (Martigny), and the legendary New Fulcrum Gallery (New York) in the 90s. In November 2025 she will open a solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Thurgau. Ceppi has also participated in significant group exhibitions, including Backstage (curated by Dorothea Strauss), shows at the Art Museum Wallis, the Art Museum Lugano, the Art Museum Bagnes, the Triennale of Contemporary Sculpture in Sion, Bex & Arts, and the Swiss Institute in New York. In addition to her exhibitions, she has realized major public art projects, such as commissions for the Lötschberg tunnel and a senior citizens’ centre in Naters. Recipient of awards including the Prix Fondation Henri & Marcelle Gaspoz and the ArtPro grant of Valais, her work is represented in the Valais Art Museum collection and has been the subject of extensive critical attention.
