Lera
Kotsyuba

Curatorial Musings

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   Unraveling the thread of domestic violence through her work, Kathy Kranias' ceramic vessels explore the agency of the female body and embody hope in their surge towards freedom in domestic spaces. In Matrilineal Hauntings, the second iteration of the exhibition at Schneider Haus, the ceramic works of Kathy question the home as a space of safety in the context of domestic violence, and the exhibition transforms from the deeply personal to the allegorical. 

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    Throughout Schneider Haus, from the family room to the pantry, Kathy’s sculptures are manifestations of domestic labour echoed in the labour of making large scale ceramics. The ceramic vessels are displayed, ensconced, and dwell in the space both as objects of ornament, as well as apparitions linking the long line of women’s experiences through time. The sculptures’ presence in the different rooms give narrative voice to unspoken moments of hope. Kathy’s art practice encompasses themes of female agency, confronting violence, and gestures of protection, which can be interpreted in Surge (2021) and Flight (2019). Kathy’s confrontation with her matrilineal history echoes throughout these works. She is further inspired by her Greek heritage in I am a Tree, Daphne (2020), in which she draws upon the mythological story of the water nymph transformed into a tree to escape the violence of Apollo.

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   The vessels may seem to hide or loom in the domestic space, but in walking through the rooms, the sculptures become way finders, drawing the visitor back from the past and into the present.

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- Lera Kotsyuba, Curator    

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