Jennifer King: Persistence of Vision

The Pit is pleased to present Persistence of Vision, the gallery's second solo exhibition by LA-based artist Jennifer King, on view from March 21 through April 30, with a public reception from 3-5pm on Sunday March 22nd. The exhibition features twelve new ceramic works that continue King's practice of experimentation with non-traditional glazing, painting, and high-fire techniques. Drawing from the subconscious, collapsing time and experiences onto the surface, King explores the vase as a historically significant object, relating to storytelling, while reflecting ideas around memory and nostalgia. King views the vase as an object of adornment, which is emphasized by the use of dangling ceramic flowers and organic forms. These embellishments convey a sense of opulence and vitality, connecting the object to the natural world and imbuing it with a feeling of latent motion. The central piece of the exhibition, which became the title of the show, "Persistence of Vision," refers to an optical illusion, in which an image lingers after the stimulus disappears - akin to a fiery trail of a glowing coal or burning stick while it's whirled around in motion in the dark. King uses this term loosely as a metaphor - the gaps our mind fills in for us, how we interpret our own version of events, thus creating a narrative construction. Conflict is embedded in the relationship between depicted figures, evoking unease and imbalance of power, countered by romance, while simultaneously conveying humor and improbability of the image. This tension is heightened by the inverted composition, which destabilizes the scene. For Persistence of Vision, King was interested in pushing the form of a historical vessel into a deconstructed, broken state—imagined as an object forgotten in a garden, gradually overgrown and assimilated into its surroundings, as seen in the work, Splintering the Sun. Made while participating in an artist-in-residence ceramics program at Cal State University Long Beach, this work shifts the vessel from a contemporary object into a relic, using its form as a means of storytelling and as a record of time passing. A pair of female legs thrust through the vessel, introducing ambiguity and tension, and creating uncertainty as to whether this intrusion caused the breakage or is merely another moment in the object's transformation. This figurative element marks a departure from her previous work and allows the piece to move further into a subconscious, dreamlike, surreal space.