I grew up in world that was presented as a utopia, but is really a dystopia.
WarmBed (2024) is an installation assembled from 18 handmade clay sculptures and found objects. The title comes from the Chinese phrase 温床 (wēn chuáng), a fertile environment that promotes the growth of unwelcome elements in ways too subtle to notice.
I use sculptures as building blocks to develop the larger structure in a modular, architectural way. The blocks are in skin tones in general and have vibrant colors and patterns. I intend the shapes to feel like organic forms from nature as well as body parts. They sit on a mattress covered with cut fake hair and translucent vending machine balls containing star-shaped human hearts. The hearts lay scattered on the mattress, as if they have rolled down from the structure.
WarmBed is the epitome of reality world I am living at. Our world is manipulated by invisible forces, like a soft bed or 温床 (wēn chuáng) that lulls us into forgetting its awfulness.
Paper clay, watercolor, synthetic hair, mattress, steel, pigment mixed silicon, plastic, aluminum foil, foam and glue.
Dimensions variable.
2024
Paper clay, found object, wig, watercolor, form, aluminum foil and glue.
Glazed earthenware, synthetic hair, pigment mixed silicon, plastic, steel, glue.
Dimensions variable.
Glazed earthenware, synthetic hair, glue.
4.5 x 4.5 x 2.25 inches.
Underglazed earthenware, synthetic hair, glue.
7.5 x 7.5 x 2.75 inches.
Paper clay, synthetic hair, metal, watercolor, acrylic, acrylic medium, oil pastel.
6 x 6.5 x 1.75 inches.