Exhibition Opening January 21 | "Through the Toyshop and Behind the Curtain: The Artistry of Gina M."

About the Exhibition

Gina M.'s solo exhibition Through the Toy Shop and Behind the Curtain is a full-scale immersive space installation combining both whimsical, found-object assemblages and trompe l'oeil ceramics. The exhibition is an "open toy chest" of nostalgia, whimsical fun, and ironic humor that gently leads the viewer to a darker repository of coded narratives and thoughtful metaphor, masking the gloomy overtones of desolation and melancholy. Her life-like sculptures are made of high-fired clay, oxide washes, encaustic paint, and found objects. Their homespun construction and textured surfaces simulate threadbare fabric, tattered fur, and the broken button eyes of careworn and faded toys that "come to life" in a toystore-full of mischievous characters, plush animal misfits, and shiny train sets. Her sculptural assemblages made of antique found objects and vintage collectibles become stand-alone, Jack-in-the-box-esque creatures, freak show specimens, and marionette-theater figurines. Together these lovable minions combine to create a large-scale installation the tantalizes the senses, triggers memories of childhood, nostalgia, and painful psychological trauma, and with dewy-eyed innocence, reasonably questions concepts of adulthood and its repercussions.

Courtesy of the artist Gina M. from the Toy Box Kids series (left) I Got This, 2018, assemblage, Clippo clown puppet, red wooden wagon, doll parts, sewing trim, toys, 24 x 24 x 12”; (right) Ever After, 2017, assemblage, found objects, ceramic gloves and rabbit, 30.5 x 23 x 12”.