Stained Glass Storage
(Part of a fellowship at the Elsewhere Museum in Greensboro, NC)
July 15-August 10, 2021
The majority of former thrift store objects at Elsewhere live out-of-reach from museum visitors. In essence, Elsewhere transforms these functional ephemera into aesthetic compositions. Stained Glass Storage brings this object-use shift clearly into focus. Stained Glass Storage flips jars, stacks ashtrays on plates, and balances bottles into vases. Traditionally, these items would either be used for initially intended purposes or stored for optimal space efficiency. Stained Glass Storage reinterprets these domestic objects as purely sculptural, at least for a moment. Because the stained-glass items are placed instead of attached, they can be rearranged to create countless compositions. Stained Glass Storage is regularly recomposed often times with the direction of whoever else happens to be in the kitchen. In this way, Stained Glass Storage progresses Elsewhere’s curation of out-of-use goods, inviting ongoing collaboration and enhanced visibility.
My mom and I regularly go to antique shops and thrift stores. These places are interactive museums/galleries, or conversely, museums and galleries are anti-interactive antique shops. Rearranging, storing, and/or curating the stained glass at Elsewhere gave me a chance to have my own antique booth.