Investigating the ordinary is the pervasive theme in René Martucci’s work. A figurative artist focusing on people and animals as her subject matter, Martucci seeks to represent thoughts, emotions, simple truths, and states of mind. Like Roy Deforest, Martucci is known for her dog imagery, and she has been included in some Deforest tribute shows. Her animal themes led to working with artist Judy Chicago, sculpting cats for Chicago to china paint. Martucci’s Column series features dogs on stacked forms…raising them to human eye level. “This elevation of the common object is very much in the tradition of Funk art absent the affronting banality that defined many of these works,” says ceramic historian Nancy Servis. Graduating from UC Davis in 1983, Martucci studied with Robert Arneson, Manual Neri, and Wayne Thiebaud. She sculpted at ceramic lab TB-9, sharing ideas with other art students including Lisa Reinertson, Arthur Gonzalez, and Tony Natsoulas.