I’m interested in the importance of accumulated personal objects. For example, my mother had a spray-painted gold brick, which held open the door to the apartment I lived in as a child. This illusion of luxury served more than one function for her. As she would continue her daily tasks like laundry, the brick would twinkle some significance every time she entered or exited. I am investigating the transformational aspects of the gold brick. Pondering its peculiarity, many questions arise in my mind about the functions of this object.
Between the function of decoration and false luxury, my pieces are inspired by high brow, low brow, and no-brow. Using small collections of slip cast objects such as; jars, plates, pitchers, creamers, etc. and pairing with plastic rhinestone jewels, spray paint, and porcelain roses I utilize the connotations associated with their ornamentation to alter perceptions one might hold to a particular object. I do not intend to fool anyone into believing these pieces carry a monetary value; however, I wish the viewer to acknowledge them as inherently precious. These works fall somewhere between a pet rock and disco.
Between the function of decoration and false luxury, my pieces are inspired by high brow, low brow, and no-brow. Using small collections of slip cast objects such as; jars, plates, pitchers, creamers, etc. and pairing with plastic rhinestone jewels, spray paint, and porcelain roses I utilize the connotations associated with their ornamentation to alter perceptions one might hold to a particular object. I do not intend to fool anyone into believing these pieces carry a monetary value; however, I wish the viewer to acknowledge them as inherently precious. These works fall somewhere between a pet rock and disco.
Biography
Zena Verda Pesta is currently working as an instructor and shop tech at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Ny. Born in Garfield Heights, Ohio, Zena earned her B.F.A(Ceramics) from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2008. Over the past summer she divided her time assisting classes at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Main, and Arrowmont School of arts and crafts in Tennessee. Zena's work is exhibited and housed in permanent and private collections nationally and internationally.
