Julia Kunin

Here, Julia Kunin evokes amphibious environments with slip-cast rocks and snails submerged in pooled, iridescent glaze. She has long been inspired by the macabre tradition of casting once-living specimens pioneered by French Renaissance polymath Bernard Palissy and widely elaborated over the centuries. For this body of work, she was also entranced by images of the historical iridescent ceramics produced by the internationally acclaimed Zsolnay ceramics manufactory in Hungary. While the firm guards the recipes of its materials, the Brooklyn-based artist gained permission to produce work in the factory. Her richly textured surfaces intensify the scintillating effects of Zsolnay’s eosin glaze.