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    Through Ceramics, Stephanie Shih Considers the Disillusioning Price of Domestic Bliss

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    “Nuclear Family” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad courtesy of the artist and Alexander Berggruen, shared with permission

    Through Ceramics, Stephanie Shih Considers the Disillusioning Price of Domestic Bliss

    January 27, 2025

    ArtSocial Issues

    Jackie Andres

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    Nothing says true love like arguing about who left the cap off the toothpaste, right? From a darkly comedic perspective, Stephanie Shih explores the multiple meanings of “domestic bliss” in a social landscape fraught with consumerism and clashing politics.

    It all started with the 1998 self-help book, Divorce for Dummies. The sardonic humor of a goofy cartoon character exclamatorily holding up a finger offering counsel to one’s broken marriage—for the totally reasonable price of $19.99—was a catalyst for Shih’s interest in the capitalist absurdity that came with the divorce boom of the 1980s and ’90s.

    “Chores” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad

    Shifting social and cultural factors, such as the introduction of no-fault divorce laws and emergent waves of feminism, drastically impacted the outlook on divorce in America. Rising individualism, disillusionment with the idea of a nuclear family, and the reclamation of feminine independence all played a part in annulment rates doubling for those aged over 35.

    In Shih’s solo exhibition aptly titled Domestic Bliss, the Brooklyn-based artist spotlights what the gallery, Alexander Berggruen, describes as “artifacts of a single household.” The array of objects evoke the reality of a time when materialism, distorted expectations, and self-loathing created a perfect storm.

    A Thigh Master one likely ordered from QVC in the deep hours of night sits alone on a pedestal, epitomizing the ways in which consumer culture preyed upon insecurities, only to sell women the illusion of control. Prisoner of Desire rests face-down on an ironing board to hold one’s place as escapism is interrupted by the mediocrity of chores. TV dinners stack atop a glowing microwave to signify power dynamics, a substantial portion of Hungry Man reserved for the father and the smallest box reserved for the mother.

    Expanding upon her previous domestic sculptures, each ceramic object evokes a sense of realism, thanks to the artist’s thoroughness. As the exhibition text explains, Shih “scoured eBay listings for photo references and exact dimensions of discontinued packaging in order to faithfully sculpt each object in its era-appropriate likeness.” A range of materials and techniques are then applied to each form, such as hand-painted underglaze, dyed resin, and even electrical elements like lighting. Every step of the way, the artist skillfully instills the mundane with liveliness.

    Domestic Bliss is on view at Alexander Berggruen in New York City through February 26. Find much more on Shih’s Instagram and website.

    “Dissolution” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad

    Photo by Robert Bredvad

    “Jagged Little Pill” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad

    Installation of “Domestic Bliss” (2024). Photo by Dario Lasagni

    “Happy Meal” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad

    “Hot Pockets” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad

    Installation of “Domestic Bliss” (2024). Photo by Dario Lasagni

    Installation of “Domestic Bliss” (2024). Photo by Dario Lasagni

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    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Art

      Genesis Belanger Coaxes the Uncanny from Vignettes of Consumption and Gluttony

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      “Self-awareness” (2024),
      veneered plywood, cork, stoneware, porcelain,
      patinaed brass, oil painted manicure, wooden vanity,
      28 × 61 × 20 inches. All photos by
      Pauline Shapiro, © Genesis Belanger, courtesy of the artist and
      Pace Gallery, shared with permission

      Genesis Belanger Coaxes the Uncanny from Vignettes of Consumption and Gluttony

      October 15, 2024

      Art

      Grace Ebert

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      A comb with perfectly manicured teeth, a tote overflowing with groceries and a bitten chocolate cookie, and a vacuum cleaner intent on eating a rug are a few of the peculiar details in Genesis Belanger’s latest exhibition.

      In the Right Conditions we are Indistinguishable, on view now Pace Gallery in London, presents fourteen vignettes of everyday life gone awry. Known for her disorienting, sometimes seductive sculptures, the artist continues working with her signature flatness and distinctive visual language, drawing on advertising techniques to critique consumerism plaguing modern life.

      “Cause and Effect” (2024), stoneware, powder coated steel, plywood, composite board, sunbrella fabric, silk and cashmere suiting, hardware, 41 × 35 × 53 inches

      Belanger’s earlier sculptures revel in pastel hues and the warm textures of ceramic, while this new body of work is more expansive. Bold, saturated colors appear throughout the individual vignettes, like on a cobalt vase and bright pink fruits resting in a squat dish. The artist also incorporates a wider array of materials into these sculptures, including the silk cashmere lining a vacuum cleaner bag and the veneered plywood that structures shelving.

      Arousing humor and absurdity from the most banal objects, Belanger invokes excessive desire, gendered expectations, and corporate malaise. “Self-Awareness,” for example, features a disjointed portrait of various objects spread across a wood table. The candlesticks with knotted wicks reference the feeling of working a 9-to-5 job, which she describes as “burnt down and tied in knots,” while the tableaux as a whole nods to self-curation and performance.

      “A Breeze Shimmers” (2024), patinaed brass, powder-coated aluminum, porcelain,hardware, 84 × 50 × 45 inches

      The artist typically shies away from depicting the human body in full form, instead preferring to represent it through fragmented parts or symbols like food and shapely objects. Fruit often takes on this role, especially in the pair of round, potted sculptures that give credence to natural growth.

      These works stand in stark contrast to the flattening effect of “16 Bit Eden,” which layers flowers and cherries atop a grid. Evoking the digital world, the pixelated backdrop questions the contemporary desire to ignore the objects and realities right in front of us.

      In the Right Conditions we are Indistinguishable is Belanger’s first U.K. exhibition and runs through November 9. See more of her work on Instagram.

      “Husband Material” (2024), porcelain, stoneware, plywood, raincoat fabric, rubber-coated linen18 1/4 × 21 × 16 5/8 inches

      “Family Portrait” (2024), veneered plywood, cork, porcelain, stoneware, 45 1/2 × 41 × 11 1/4 inches

      “Sentimental Attachment” (2024), stoneware with oil-painted manicure, 25 × 13 × 2 inches

      “Managed Expectations (you only deserve a tiny piece)” (2024), veneered plywood, powder-coated steel, cork, porcelain, 30 × 20 1/4 × 7 3/8 inches

      “It Always Comes Out in the Wash” (2024), stoneware, porcelain, patinaed brass, and fiberglass,29 × 6 × 32 inches

      Installation view of ‘Genesis Belanger: In the Right Conditions we are Indistinguishable,’ Pace Gallery, London (2024). Photo by Damian Griffiths

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    • 200 Shares99 Views

      in Art

      Thousands of Fresh and Artificial Flowers Overrun an Abandoned Convenience Store in a Small Michigan Town

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      Art

      #consumerism
      #flowers
      #installation
      #site-specific
      #stores

      July 30, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images by Christian Gerard, courtesy of Lisa Waud, shared with permission
      Port Austin, Michigan, is a picturesque village on the Lake Huron shoreline lauded for its beaches, water sports, and vegetable-shaped rock formations. With a population in the hundreds, the small community relies heavily on tourism to fund its economy, a reality Detroit-based botanical artist Lisa Waud contended with in a recent pop-up installation in one of the town’s abandoned convenience stores.
      Titled “Party Store”—this colloquialism refers to a small shop selling snacks, alcohol, lottery tickets, and other cheap staples—the immersive project transforms a dilapidated space into a lush garden of fresh-cut flowers grown in Michigan and artificial replicas sourced from resale shops around the state. A water-damaged drop ceiling, stained carpeting, and wood paneling peek through the colorful botanicals, which envelop a commercial coffee machine, crawl across shelving, and bulge out of dimly lit coolers.

      Similar to her other site-specific works like her 2015 transformation of a condemned duplex in Detroit, Waud describes “Party Store” as a “cleansing reset,” one that uses the tension between life and decay as a prompt to consider cultural understandings of permanence and disposability. She references pieces like Robin Frohardt’s grocery store stocked with plastic food and Prada Marfa as influences, two large-scale projects that criticize consumerism through their satirical imitations of common and luxury goods. “In spending time in Port Austin, I recognized a similarity between its tourism culture and that of my hometown of Petoskey,” Waud writes in a statement. “The local economy relies on the tourists, but often the folks who come can have a ‘disposable’ quality to their visit, exemplified in the increase of consuming convenient items—often packaged in single-use plastic.”
      “Party Store” was dismantled after its July 16-18 run, when many of the materials were recycled or reused. “By installing flowers that will ultimately be composted into a space that historically sells items that cannot be biodegraded, I hoped to bridge a connection for responsible choice-making in its visitors’ future,” the artist says.
      To keep up with Waud’s floral transformations, head to her site and follow her on Instagram.

      #consumerism
      #flowers
      #installation
      #site-specific
      #stores

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