Milton sculptor invites viewers through her narrative works

Jun 03, 2023

Staff Reporter

Milton resident Kirsten Stingle is a narrative sculptor, who primarily works in ceramics but incorporates found objects in ornate mixed media displays. In September, four of her sculptures will be featured in the "HEY! CERAMIQUE.S" exhibition at the Museum of La Halle Saint Pierre in Paris.

MILTON, Ga. — Bouncing from place to place across her basement studio, narrative sculptor Kirsten Stingle provided insight into reimagined worlds.

The studio is covered in armoires, storing more than just underglaze. Working in ceramics, but also fiber and found objects, Stingle is attracted to the stories she can tell. She hand-builds each piece, without using a cast, and layers them with detail, asking viewers to take their time.

The latest collection concerns mythology, the stories that reflect a more patriarchal culture. Stingle takes figures who have been "ossified" – rigid or fixed – and "weaponized," like Medusa, and reincorporates them into the natural world.

Kirsten Stingle describes a new sculpture, not yet titled. In September, Stingle's work will be featured in a Paris exhibition.

After describing the mythical figure, who had been raped by Poisedon and punished by Athena, Stingle said, "You're looking at weaponization of sex, weaponization of power, weaponization of her."

A new piece, not yet titled, is a bust of a woman hanging on Stingle's studio wall. The woman's hair, in thick strands, swirls around like snakes, but the texture and color are reminiscent of a fungal network. It's also embellished with gemstones, flowers and even some scabs of saguaro cactus nests.

"We have to sort of re-entangle ourselves into the environment," Stingle said.

Stingle's work is women-centric, as she tends to tell her own story. She paints dots on her sculptures’ lips, a signature, as a reminder to stay true to herself. They often feature pronounced, teased, Regency-era hair — another story-telling platform, additional space for layering.

A banner in the far end of her studio: an illustration of Marie Antoinette and the words: "Let them eat cake." Stingle likes to steal from different time periods and has an eye for fashion porn. She cited fashion photographer Tim Walker as an inspiration.

Four of Kirsten Stingle's ceramic sculptures will be featured in the "HEY! CERAMIQUE.S" exhibition at the Museum of La Halle Saint Pierre in Paris from September 2023 to August 2024. The exhibition will have 34 ceramic artists from 13 countries.

First time in Paris

In September, four of Stingles’ sculptures will be featured in the "HEY! CERAMIQUE.S" exhibition at the La Halle Saint-Pierre museum in Paris. While not her first international exhibition, it will be Stingle's first in Paris.

"Being in a different country for a different clientele, collector base … is amazing," Stingle said.

The exhibition is curated by Anne Richard, founder of art magazine HEY! Modern art & pop culture, and will feature 34 ceramic artists from 13 countries.

The exhibition will be a "rehabilitation" of the ceramic medium, Richard said, as part of her magazine's attempts to "defy dominant conventions and codes." Rather than a history of ceramics or an illustration of traditional techniques, she said it is a "testimony to the spectacular energy that permeates contemporary sculpture today."

Richard chose the artists based on their devotion to exploring an "original relationship to clay as a means of expression and action." She had an eye on Stingle for some time, having featured her work several years ago in the pages of HEY!

"The quality of [Stingle's] work, and [her] dexterity with mixed media, is exactly what I'm looking for in this exhibition," Richard said. "[Her] work is 'very American,’ so it's going to be a great discovery for French and European audiences."

The exhibition runs until August 2024.

Kirsten Stingle points out detail, teeth made of teacups, in a sculpture to be exhibited in "Animalia" at the Blue Spiral 1 gallery in Asheville, North Carolina. An animal covered in detailed stitchwork as an example, Stingle has begun making fiber a more integral part of her work.

Threading human experience

Stingle's collections fall under varied overarching themes, concluded once they begin to feel stale. But a commonality among them exists, and it is the desire to thread human experiences in an often-isolating world. To promote a better understanding with one another, Stingle encourages self-understanding, revelation.

She intentionally creates figures that are approachable, palatable. But she still gets comments from viewers who perceive some horror.

"It's supposed to be a dialogue with you," Stingle said, of those viewers who are alarmed looking at her work. "That also reflects some of the thoughts that you have, and what you might have dealt with in the past …"

Lately, Stingle has begun to advance her mixed media with fiber. She highlighted some pieces, animals with detailed stitchwork, that will be in "Animalia," an exhibition at the Blue Spiral 1 gallery in Asheville, North Carolina.

One was a bust of a deer with a neck covered in buttons made of mother of pearl, which took her a year to stitch together as she worked between projects.

Everyday, Stingle walks downstairs with a cup of coffee, flips on her studio lights and gets to work. There's no weekend off. Work and play become enmeshed, she said.

"My work is so much me," Stingle said. "I’m always in the studio. It's very much a grounding thing."

Reach Amber Perry at 770-847-8334. Follow her on Twitter @ambermarieperry.

Staff Reporter