Cristal Zeballos is a Bolivian American Ceramicist and Sculptor. She holds an Associate of Visual Fine Arts degree from Guilford Technical Community College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art with concentrations in Ceramics and Sculpture from the University of Greensboro at North Carolina.

She has worked as a Studio Tutor at Guilford Technical Community College Art Department and as a sculptor for the Women of the Shoah Foundation. Her ongoing body of work, Cultural Reproduction was first installed as a Solo Exhibition at The Greensboro Projects Space. She is currently an MFA candidate at Cranbrook Academy of Art in the Ceramics Department, 2024.

"Bolivia is my niñez; formative years that instilled a rich cultural memory that my work calls back upon. While I explore and extrapolate on how it has developed with global influence and its place in the world.

My fondest memories came from visiting the Bolivian markets. Enchanted by the bright colors, and miniature keepsakes. And I saw year to year the rapid development, growing mechanical reproduction, and commodity of culture. In time the quality of these markets changed with the reality of Bolivia as a touristic country. The depreciation of handcrafted trade and material integrity reflected the economic necessity for cheaper synthetic importation and the subsequent undercutting value of products that came with the phase of consumption and economic development Bolivia was now facing.

My first display of this work was done during an interactive Solo Show. Based in the demonstrative effect of touristic acculturation in the market aesthetic and the catholic syncretic influence on Bolivian iconography and rituals. My work is a physical manifestation of a ceremonial or daily practice, this is a cultural translation beyond its aesthetic. While I use the visuals and iconography that signify this is my Bolivia, it would be incomplete without the practice and values that shape it.

Regardless of the material integrity or displacement of time or place, the continuation of rituals and purpose is an eternal aspect of culture; ever-changing through influence and practice. And it is through practice and relapse of time that this value is renewed."