Ghost Ship Duo  porcelain sculpture  4 x 18 x 10″  POR

My work tells cruel tales about the historical mistreatment of humanity and what’s left behind after terrible things happen. I shed light on dark topics. I am obsessed with the same creamy white, translucent porcelain that kings and emperors demanded for their personal dinnerware. My sculptures are strictly nonfunctional, narrative focused and research based.

Due to the natural beauty of the clay’s whiteness, color is often excluded. In some instances, touches of shiny clear glaze or gold luster are used sparingly. Surfaces are stretched, cracked and purposefully misshaped for an otherworldly look. Other surfaces mimic thick, indulgently smooth cake frosting topped off with touches of molten gold.

My goal is to create psychologically challenging works that force the viewer to contemplate injustice. Topics include mental asylums, silencing women, school shootings, the worldwide refugee crisis and domestic violence. Gold-masked women constricted in straight jackets, jumbo teeth delicately wrapped in gauze, children costumed in phantasmagorical masks used as protective disguises, a reliquary honoring young shooting victims, women in iron bridles, ghostly skeletal ships and an arsenal of household items used for self defense are manifestations of my commentary.

I don’t choose to make the sculptures. There are no preliminary drawings. Quite simply, they make themselves. I choose to remember that silence is the soundtrack of repression.

Kimberly Chapman

Juror's Award