From a vast accumulation of found and ready-made consumer products, Portia Munson has been creating elaborate sculptures and installations that explore the thinly veiled messages and codes embedded in mass-produced objects for over thirty years.
Based in Catskill, New York, the artist first began working with found consumer items such as plastic figures and kitsch in 1989 when she presented an early version of a bright pink assemblage titled ‘Pink Project: Table” for her MFA thesis exhibition at Rutgers University.
Munson had been collecting pink plastic objects to use as references for paintings, but over time they began to overtake her studio. “I realized it was a piece in itself,” she says. “If you have an idea and something you want to express, you look for the medium that can best express those ideas.”
Pink emerged as a central interest for Munson when she began to wonder why the color is associated with women, especially babies and young girls. For years she collected everything pink, plastic and mass-produced, often scouring trinkets at garage sales, thrift stores and flea markets.
Over time, Munson’s pieces expanded to include immersive environments constructed entirely of one color, such as the fabric-draped interior of “Garden” or the Pink project series that continues with works such as ‘Pink Project: Bedroom’.
Tables and trays provide platforms for Munson’s seemingly jumbled compositions, bundling numerous figurines together with twine and twine, as in her Tray series or the large-scale ‘Bound Angel’.
‘Serving Tray #6’, for example, presents a mix of ceramic and glass images of women, tied with rope and placed on a silver platter. Munson describes the group of blindfolded, chained figures as “sacrificial martyrs, inviting reflection on what we are fed as a culture and who ultimately pays for it.”
Displayed on a fabric-covered oval dining table, ‘Bound Angel’ brings together dozens of found white figurines and lamps, many of which depict angels. Munson has wrapped rope and rope around their bodies and faces, highlighting the limitations society places on women and illuminating struggles that may be hidden in plain sight.
“This piece is one in a series of works that explore how femininity and the female body are depicted in our culture,” Munson said in a statement. She adds:
‘Bound Angel’ despises the insatiable, consumerist, sexist and repressive value systems that degrade society. By bringing these objects together, this piece harnesses their collective power, transforming their original function of pacifying, sexualizing, and infantilizing women into one of retaliation, confrontation, and strength.
“Bound Angel” will be on view at Art Basel Miami Beach in the Meridians area, a sector of the fair dedicated to large-scale installations, sculptures and performances. The show runs from December 6 to 8, showcasing Munson’s work P·P·O·W. More information about the artist website.
