Overview
Transformer is proud to present the installation work of Detroit-based artist Lauren Rice in her first DC solo exhibition.
Similar to set designs for theatrical events, the landscapes Rice creates in her sculptural work are fantastical - elements appear to collapse, levitate, burst and grow within the gallery space. With Heirlooms, Rice references gardens and flowers, while simultaneously vulgarizing their traditional preconceptions as feminine and romantic. The organic "flowers" are bulky blobs resting uncomfortably upon their armatures of wooden dowels, wire, and cement. Each one original, these objects crafted from window screen, newspaper, phone book pages, spray paint, and glue bear more of a resemblance to kudzu than a tended garden. The monstrous vegetation entices the viewer while threatening to become a metaphor for disease and decay.
