Sarah Gross: Installation Works, 2016-2023
This installation offers a space for meandering and contemplation. It is inspired by the geometric tilework of Islamic architecture, pays tribute to the artisans of handmade ceramics, and treats blue and white ceramics as carriers of ideas. The visual tradition of blue and white ceramics developed through an exchange between the Middle East and China, and has taken on many forms and embodied many geographic identities. Allow your eye to drift from the individual forms to the larger form, from independent pattern to interconnected pattern and experience the lack of resolution. I invite viewers to explore the work and fill the voids they see.
My modular ceramic installation, Consumption, simulates a red carpet, like those seen at celebrity and VIP events. Upon closer inspection the velvety surface of the “carpet” is revealed to be over 700 tiles covered with casts of my fingertips. The sumptuous surface draws you in with associations of larger-than-life glamour but then suddenly becomes uncomfortably familiar and human.
The modularity of this work allows me to respond to different installation sites. Situated in a the space of a gallery, this piece is an examination of the spectacle of the art world. In any location, Consumption creates a space that speaks of status, longing, vulnerability, and power.
This piece is at once brick, tile, and textile simulacrum. Crudely molded clay as elegant classical ornamentation. I sourced the original curtain image from an overstock.com “sheer window scarf” that comes in 21 colorways. Taken all together, this piece speaks of decadence and decay over time.
“Fall in Line” emphasizes the tensions that exist between the inherent uniformity of mass-produced everyday materials and the individuals who use them. The overall form is geometric and brutalist with a glaze designed to mimic concrete. Casts of identical stony bathtub faucets project from the wall, each dripping with a bright yellow tassel, creating a cascade of toxic-looking silk.
Captions
- Continental Drift, 2016, stoneware, glaze, decals, wood, Dimensions variable, each unit 2”x7”x6.5”, Photo credit: Rachel Crowl (first two images) and Aaron Paden (images 3-8)
- Consumption, 2018, talc body casting slip, glaze, 2”x36’5.5’, Photo credit: Aaron Paden
- Untitled (Curtain), 2020, earthenware, 88”x60”x12”, Photo credit: Aaron Paden
- Fall in Line, 2018, talc body casting slip, glaze, tassels, 36”x8.5’x10”, Photo credit: Aaron Paden
