Lena Klein
I make ceramic work that addresses themes of gender and the body, power and capitalism, and humans’ relationship to the land. These themes often come with feelings of anger, vulnerability, greed, joy, and kinship. I try to toe the line between beauty and the grotesque, adding my specific flavor of playfulness and humor to clay forms.
Having grown up in Los Angeles, a city with a unique interaction of artificial and natural forces, I have always been perplexed by humankind’s reverence for ‘nature’ in a highly urban setting. The geometric shapes of urban landscapes, textures of earth, rocks, and shells, internet culture, punk rock identity, commercial and domestic products, tools of construction, and literary satires are some of my main thematic and sculptural inspirations. My use of color and sardonic messages are two constants in my work.
Wrestling With
In Judaism a main concept taught to children is the idea of Wrestling with God. The act of engaging with a question is more rewarding than accepting someone else’s answer. You can challenge someone else, argue with them, contradict each other, and leave without any conclusion or middle ground reached. This does not threaten the relationship between two people, but builds common understanding and perspective.
The style of this sculpture is inspired by the emotional theatrics of wrestling. It is spectacle, showmanship: it is a performance of scripted conflict. The entertainment of power and dominance distracts from the far less glamorous work of trying to come to a consensus. When our government expects passive obedience, our fundamental responsibility is our right to question, to wrestle, to be actively engaged in resolution.