(September 15, 2023 to February 25, 2024)

Philadelphia ceramist Lauren Sandler is known for creating sculptural forms that she describes as investigations of “historic and contemporary narratives of power and perspective through the familiarity of the vessel, assembled as stacked parts, embedded with an accumulation of cultural objects.” The recognizability of the underlying form encourages viewers to take a closer look and discover the detailed content that adorns each. In several objects, Sandler has incorporated buttons, spools, thimbles, bobbins, clothing, nails, and knots that references her “family’s history as immigrant textile workers.” Another, has been covered with maritime objects and explores “migrations, economies of trade and occupation, the commodification of goods and people.” While several reference Philadelphia specifically—the bases of the smaller sculpture are inspired by the city’s original ceramic sewage pipes and the bricks are handmade by Sandler from clay sourced from the region.

To emphasize these embedded narrative stories within, Sandler has purposefully constructed nonfunctional vessels unable to contain objects and instead, placed those elements on the exteriors as focal points that she describes as “a visual tactic of ornamental allure.” Nearly every aspect of each object has been researched and composed to fulfill the artist’s intent “to explore stories that have been erased, distorted, and rewritten.”

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