Nicki Green
MEDIATORS
© Nicki Green.
Nicki Green reconceptualizes the bathroom and the ceramic objects within it as sacred liminal spaces for transformation. She breaks down the expected utility of commonplace domestic objects through hybrids of toilet tanks, sinks, bidets, urinals, and faucets holding lavender sprigs like Dutch tulip vases to make memorials of change. In reference to the grandeur of liturgical objects, Green adorns her work with illustrations of moons, mushrooms, water, and other symbols of transformation as reminders that change is an intrinsic part of living. Her large ceramic bathtubs are symbolic containers for the care of peo- ple through the ritual of bathing. This body of work is a nod to her Jewish heritage and the mikvah, traditionally a ceremonial bath for women after menstruation or birth that has evolved to be a more inclusive practice of healing, creativity, and commemoration of significant life changes.
Her interventions into delftware, where earthenware pretends to be porcelain, underscore ideas of conceptual and political performativity, especially as she creates what she refers to as a “failure of illusion” by allowing the clay body to peek through the glaze. Furthermore, she subverts the traditional blue-and-white palette with lavender, a symbol of resistance for the LGBTQ+ community.
B. 1986, Boston, MA
Lives and works in Alfred, NY
SP1616
Nicki Green, The Porous Sea (Tank), 2019, Glazed earthenware, cotton, walnut, and caning. Courtesy of the artist, photo by R & Company.