Squish (Stools)

Squish Stools form a continuous body together with each ceramic stool squishing and being squished by other stools. I like touching things, feeling the texture and the temperature and marking indentations with my finger. Covid prohibits touching which makes me more aware of it. I want to hold an apple at the green market and feel its weight. I want to grip and feel the touch of a handshake. As a kid I would touch everything to get to know the objects around me and then the next thing would be to put stuff in my mouth. I can’t do that now either. 

Clay goes through different stages. When wet it’s fluid and sensitive to outside forces. It takes marks from whatever touches its surface and collapses with a gentle push. When a bit drier it enters into a “leather hard” or “cheddar cheese” stage where the clay firms up and takes imprints only from sharp materials like metal sculpting tools. Between these two stages clay is supple and flexible. It maintains its body structure and is yet still malleable and responsive to contacts with other objects. It has a texture like skin. Human skin. 

In this skin stage, I form these stools. I place them side by side and gently push them together so that each stool takes the form of its neighboring stools, which in turn take the form of their own neighboring stools. In this way the interaction spreads.  It’s like hugging, accepting another's body while rounding their own. It’s like the way we were in the NY subways, huddling in a triangular spot in a puffy coat. It’s like garlic cloves, growing up in a shared husk. 

2020, ceramics

Squish Stools were designed for exhibition Inside~Out curated and produced by Kin & Company
Show website: insideout.show
Computer modeling: Maryam Turkey
Landscapes and rendering: Duyi Han