Sobre el Artista

At the late age of 40, Amber’s mother discovered she was finally pregnant. Amber was the “miracle child” of a couple who were planning to adopt a child. It was thought that as a result of Amber’s mother being a Holocaust survivor who endured Auschwitz and the Death March that her ability to conceive was damaged. As the “late in life” child of both a Holocaust survivor and a forced labor camp survivor from Hungary, Amber’s childhood was unusual for growing up in the suburbs of San Francisco. Hearing screaming at night from her mother’s nightmares was the norm. Fear was a regular part of her life. As a consequence of this childhood, Amber grew up with the overwhelming need to speak out against social injustice. In kindergarten, Amber made her first ceramic piece. It was a blue ashtray with her palm-print in it. From the moment she saw that a malleable piece of dirt could be turned into a rock hard waterproof item, she was hooked on clay. Much later in her career (second grade) when she won the local poster contest, she knew she was destined to be an artist. Many years later Amber received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Southern California, and then continued her education with a Masters Degree in Art Education at San Francisco State University. At that time she also received her California teaching credential and went on to teach ceramics in the public school system. When Amber moved to Hawaii with her husband 13 years ago, she left teaching so she could focus on her own art in earnest with the goal of being the professional artist that she had envisioned since second grade. Her art speaks of her feelings about war, racism, and other forms of social injustice. Using her natural artistic gift, Amber hopes to be able to change the world “at least a little bit” through her sculptures. 45 years after making that fateful ashtray Amber is represented by top galleries in the field of ceramics and her work is exhibited and collected internationally.