A single hand drapes delicately off the edge of a table, with rich, brocade-like material pooling around its wrist. Crimson strawberries and sliced lemon are tucked into folds in the fabric, adding to the aura of decadence. But something is off: The hand is blue, almost rotten. Look from another angle, and you'll see a cross section of flesh where the wrist truncates, exposing bare muscle and bone.
This scene, rendered in stoneware in She's a Messy Eater (2023), is exemplary of Serena Korda's striking ceramic work, which marries the ornamental with the grotesque. The sculpture was exhibited in Cooke Latham Gallery's booth at The Armory Show last month-Korda's first solo appearance in the U.S. With its offerings of dainty, disembodied arms and headless headdresses inspired by historical garments, the presentation expanded on "The Maidens," Korda's body of work examining the disempowerment of women in myth and history. Given her chosen themes, the artist's choice of medium is pointed: Korda willfully complicates ceramics' association with domestic and decorative objects.
