Keloids, 2023 - ongoing
Cannibalized tchotchke figurines, Porcelain, glaze. Photos taken by Christopher Wormald and Elon Schoenholz.
An ornate object like porcelain can be abstracted to represent a racialized and gendered aesthetic, asking how is one's personhood is contingent on object hood, or prescribed to us via fetishziation? How can a person morph into an object?
The Keloid series cannibalize tchotchke figurines through adornment and covers them in porcelain slip. The hand sculpted rose embellishments on the sculptures become decoration and tumor. Referencing a keloid, or raised scar after an injury has healed, the roses obscure the figurines and create new images. The porcelain slip cracks on the surface as if it were flaking skin, revealing moments of original glaze beneath it.
The sculptures offer adornment as a method of healing. Grotesque beauty becomes a keloid, reminding us of the beauty that can grow from injury.