animals

Left: “Collie Pheasant” (2023). Right: “St. Bernard Pheasant” (2023). Both mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 10.5 x 8 x 3.5 inches. All images © Debra Broz, courtesy of Track 16 Gallery, shared with permission

Debra Broz Merges Humor and Kitsch in a Nod to Our ‘Strange World’

September 10, 2024

Art Craft

Kate Mothes

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Vintage, mass-produced porcelain knick-knacks take on new life in Debra Broz’s intricate and uncanny hybrids (previously). Collies and St. Bernards with the bodies of pheasants meet rabbits with curiously long appendages and woodland creatures with human arms.

In her solo exhibition Strange World at Track 16, Broz continues to explore the subversive and absurd through the leitmotif of midcentury kitsch. Whether merging two small sculptures or creating elaborate amalgamations, the artist finds the humor—and just a tinge of unease—in busyness, cuteness, and perplexity.

“Weight of the World” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 34 x 18 x 18 inches

Strange World, which incorporates dozens of sculptures and glazed platters, revolves around three maximalist assemblages made of hundreds of individual figurines Broz collected during the past decade. Clusters of adorable animals like big-eyed bunnies, ducks, and cows emerge from bases as if blossoming with energy.

In a statement for the show, Track 16 describes the pieces as “darkly optimistic, synthesizing the confusion of limitless information.” Chaotic and idiosyncratically beautiful, Broz’s pieces tap into our contemporary social reality, balancing tension and overwhelm with moments of levity and clarity.

Strange World continues through October 12 in Los Angeles. Find more on Broz’s website and Instagram.

Detail of “Weight of the World”

“Slightly Human: Cat & Skunk” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 4 x 5 x 3 inches

“Slightly Human: Squirrels” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 5.25 x 7.5 x 4 inches

“Galaxy Brain” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 25 x 22 x 18 inches

Detail of “Galaxy Brain”

“Slightly Human: Horse (The Champion)” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 8.5 x 7 x 4 inches

“White Rabbit No. 33” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 6 x 4 x 2 inches

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