Imagine with me that you had grown up all of your life and never seen a starfish before. Then one day in walks your friend with a starfish, insisting that this lumpy little mass of arms is a living thing. Would you believe them? Would you think they were joking? Would you think it was a plant or an animal? Fungus or mineral? Terrestrial or extraterrestrial? Friendly or dangerous?
How do we encounter an unknown thing? How do we empathize with an alien organism? Do we reject it, or do we give it room to breathe? Do we step on it right away, or do we let it shamble about on its multitude of tentacles, allowing it to introduce itself to us and us to it? It takes confidence and bravery to engage in each others’ mysteries. Do we take that risk? Do we give the starfish a chance?
What If You Had Never Seen a Starfish? is a series of eleven sculptures created for my senior thesis at Gordon College in the spring of 2018. The show exhibited at Gordon College from May 12 to 19, 2018, and at Valor Christian High School from June 13 to September 13, 2018.
Contact me at justindkedl@gmail.com for sale inquiries. Payment plans available.
Culminated Forms of Fictional Genetics (or, Agatha)
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes, epoxy, gouache
9.5”x18.5”x16.5”
Private Collection
Vincent
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes
3.5”x3.5”x2.5”
SOLD
Wayne
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes
3”x3.75”x4”
SOLD
Bertha, the Matriarch
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes, epoxy, gouache, plaster of paris, iron pipe, pvc
33”x28”x19”
Under "Store to Own" Contract
Albert, the Heir
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes, gouache
5.75”x10.5”x8”
$400
The Dying Gaul
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes
2.5”x8.5”x7”
Under "Store to Own" Contract
Embryonic Cactoid
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes
1”x2.25”x3”
SOLD
Bipedal Mollusk
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes, epoxy
3.5”x7.5”x5.5”
SOLD
Droopy
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes, epoxy, gouache
16”x15.25”x6”
Under "Store to Own" Contract
microCamelid
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes
5.5”x5.25”x3.75”
SOLD
Specimen 11
ceramic stoneware, black iron oxide, underglazes
11.25”x13”x12.5”
SOLD
Contact me at justindkedl@gmail.com for purchase inquiries. Payment plans available.
Installations at Valor Christian High School and Gordon College (2018)