{"id":3103,"date":"2025-01-08T21:36:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T21:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/art\/nicole-mclaughlins-mixed-media-sculptures-celebrate-craft-heritage-and-new-life-colossal\/"},"modified":"2025-01-08T21:36:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T21:36:18","slug":"nicole-mclaughlins-mixed-media-sculptures-celebrate-craft-heritage-and-new-life-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=3103","title":{"rendered":"Nicole McLaughlin’s Mixed-Media Sculptures Celebrate Craft, Heritage, and New Life \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"


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From ceramics and wool fiber, Nicole McLaughlin<\/a> (previously<\/a>) summons striking connections between materials, heritage, and personal experiences. She draws upon the rich traditions of historically domestic crafts to reconsider their roles today, merging ceramics and textiles into elegant, cascading wall sculptures.<\/p>\n

Drawing on artisanal trades like pottery and weaving, McLaughlin deconstructs preconceptions about form and function, emphasizing mediums, techniques, and themes through the unexpected pairing of stoneware and fiber. Her works encourage us to think critically about relationships between tenderness and strength or past and present.<\/p>\n

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\u201cCord\u00f3n de Vida\u201d (2024), ceramic, tencel, indigo, wool, and cochineal, 27 x 60 x 4 inches. Courtesy of Anderson Yezerski Gallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many of the pieces shown here are from McLaughlin\u2019s ongoing Indigo Series, <\/em>which explores the history of the Mayan pigment and its taps into the continuity of life cycles, history, and culture. Streams of wool fiber flow from central openings in glazed ceramic spheres, referencing the life-giving flow of water as a parallel to fertility and maternal care.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin gave birth to a daughter in early 2024, which dramatically shifted how she viewed her studio practice. The work in her most recent exhibition, String of Life <\/em>at Anderson Yezerski Gallery, merges personal experiences and her Mexican cultural heritage, delving into themes of life and the transformative journey of motherhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe transformation of organic material echoes the transformative nature of motherhood,\u201d McLaughlin said in a statement for the show. \u201cThe range of colors captures an intense emotional spectrum\u2014from the vitality of birth to the softer, more intimate moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

For McLaughlin, cochineal carries an equivalent significance. The brilliant magenta hue emerges from carmine dye, also known as cochineal<\/a>, which comes from crushing an insect of the same name. The color plays a vital role in Indigenous material culture and heritage of the Americas. <\/p>\n

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Detail of \u201cCord\u00f3n de Vida\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the Aztecs and Mayans, red was symbolic of the gods, the sun, and blood, and the dye was traded throughout Central and South America for use in rituals, producing pigments for manuscripts and murals, and for dyeing cloth and feathers.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the Mayan empire, indigo was combined with clay and incense to create a pigment known as Maya blue<\/a>,\u201d she says. \u201cThe pigment was said to hold the healing power of water in the agricultural community.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLaughlin\u2019s work is in the group exhibition OBJECTS: USA 2024 <\/em>at R & Company<\/a> in New York, which continues through tomorrow. The artist is currently taking a short break from the studio in anticipation of working toward a solo exhibition at Adamah Ceramics<\/a> in Columbus, Ohio, which will open this fall. See more on her website<\/a>, and follow updates on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAgua; Sangre de Vida.\u201d Photo by Logan Jackson, courtesy of R & Company<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u201cLa Peque\u00f1a\u201d (2024), ceramic, wool, and cochineal, 10.5 x 21 x 1.5 inches. Courtesy of Anderson Yezerski Gallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u201cLa Marea que me Envuelve II\u201d (2023). All images courtesy of Nicole McLaughlin, shared with permission<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Detail of \u201cFuentes de Vida; Gemela\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Detail of \u201cDe Mi Vientre\u201d (2024), ceramic, tencel, wool, and cochineal, 17.5 x 73 x 5.5 inches. Courtesy of Anderson Yezerski Gallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Untitled (2024), 10 x 10 feet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Detail of \u201cLa Peque\u00f1a\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n