Crash (2010) employs gestural conventions of traditional ceramic figurines in order to disrupt our expectations of them. The speed, violence and chaos of the moment portrayed adopt the measured waltz-like pace conjured by a Rococo formal vocabulary. The intent is to evoke the dread-filled slo-mo one might experience in an actual crash, paired uneasily with the lyricism and fragility conveyed in the ceramic material. Dimensions: 9 inches x 15 x 26.
Allegories / This series of figurines, entitled Allegories, was first exhibited at Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York, in October 2005.
The experiment was a straightforward one:
Several of the infamous images of tortured detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were selected and transformed into miniature figures.
The staged nature of the original documentation translates with an eerie fluidity into the sentimental affectations of the traditional ceramic figurine. Liberated from the context of photographic evidence, they transcend the narrow polemic of the Iraqi occupation. The vision becomes more elusive.
The title “Allegories” suggests a deeper symbolic resonance to this narrative. The original photographic evidence incriminates the U.S. state security apparatus, but as allegorical figures they perhaps question the underlying ethos of the homeland itself.
Soda-Fired Ceramic Figures
