Page 30 - WTP Vol. IX #9

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“This interactive sculpture is about the breaking of bread with others, as well as the nurturing act of feeding to keep something alive. However, in response to the pan-
demic, I altered this piece slightly, to reflect our current lack of shared experiences. The sculpture consists of a large kitchen table that sits in the center of the gallery space. The kitchen table was found on the side of the road, bruised from years of use. It was originally missing the center leaf, so I crafted a new one from salvaged wood. I spent weeks sand- ing and nurturing this table, to repair it to its original glory. The remnants from the sand- ing process are collected within the vessel beneath the table, and a film is projected onto this sawdust, of different hands kneading dough. They are all sharing in this nurturing act, bypassing the boundaries of location and time.
“The kitchen table was the heart of my childhood home. It was the communal place where my family gathered each day to talk about their experiences and share with each other, the place where we were nourished and nurtured mentally and physically, day by day. On the center of the table is a large plaster vessel created from the cast of my sister’s pregnant torso. Within this vessel sits a jar containing the mother dough fermented from the natu- rally occurring yeast that lives within the air of my home. I have been feeding this mother dough for months, once a day in order to keep it alive. Surrounding this are hundreds of individually crafted ceramic cups.”
Lauren tayLor Grad