Grace Sachi Troxell – Sunroom Project Space 2023

In Grace Sachi Troxell’s exhibition Cosmic Daikon, clay and steel create the foundation of her sculptures. Organized in constellations of enmeshment, they hum with activity as steel entrails support and enclose clay bodies. In Big Belly Deli Tentacular Tummy, for instance, steel tentacles bear the weight of one clay amalgamation, while wrapping their talons around a second.

Body parts cast from different family members—her aunt’s belly, her partner’s mechanical arm, her mother’s breasts—are placed on the same plane as a community of vegetables. Emerging from the surface of Troxell’s forms, amidst a forearm and a fragmented face are squash, napa cabbage and garlic—cast from vegetables grown in Wave Hill’s seasonal Paisley Bed. Vegetables are just one answer to the question of how our bodies relate to the earth. In their capacity to provide sustenance and aid bodily functions of repair, they can also cause uncertain digestion. In Cosmic Daikon, Troxell presents occasions for appreciating vegetables as both an offering of nourishment and physiological discomfort, enlivening and capturing moments on the precipice of change. These are the tensions held in simultaneity that condense time, allowing us to see in an instance what can otherwise only be seen across time.

Public Program: Sat, Jun 17, 2PM, Meet the Artist