Readymades + Reincarnated materiality = Objects of Desire
Karin Karinson is based in Gothenburg and works with ceramic objects shaped by both machine and human. Ceramics as a material stands for special feelings, norms and values, which are of great importance in her work where she takes the liberty to both reinforce and overthrow accepted notions. At Macken, Karin Karinson's exhibition "We Are All Made of Stars Ep 4" will be shown as part of her series "Objects of Desire".
Karinson is interested in how we humans use objects to construct, reinforce and stage our identities. Readymades as figurines and ornaments are crowded together with glass, clay, glaze and rubble of things that were once something else. The objects that are in different stages of the life cycle are crowded together in fused, dream-like distorted ceramic assemblages and in still lifes on altars. Piles of rubbish that we have thrown away become new, lavish monuments to worship. Inside becomes outside and the meaning is as fluid as the solidified rivers of shiny glaze.
One of the themes that most permeates her work is the reincarnated materiality in the objects that make up human scenography. "The global financial structure is in crisis," says Karinson, "and our consumption habits are changing. A system that requires a continuously increasing consumption crackles and it becomes visible through psychological and emotional shift. My work reflects that change ”.
In 2017, Karin Karinson received Sten A Olsson's cultural scholarship for how she renewed the work with the ceramic sculpture.
