Art Beyond the Lens: Kiah Celeste's Transformative Sculptures
From Photographic Rigor to Sculptural Freedom: An Artist's Evolution
Kiah Celeste, an artist who initially pursued photography, found herself stifled by the stringent guidelines of the medium. Despite her academic background, her true artistic calling emerged not from the lens but from a hands-on engagement with art as an art handler. This pivotal experience, honed in various New York institutions and notably at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, became the crucible for her distinctive sculptural practice. Celeste humorously notes that her photographic training now primarily serves as a guide for what to avoid in her current creative endeavors.
The Genesis of a Sculptor: From Found Objects to Artistic Revelation
The transition to sculpture was sparked by an impromptu exhibition opportunity in Abu Dhabi. Faced with limited resources, Celeste ingeniously sourced materials from her surroundings. This resourcefulness led to the creation of her seminal piece, Balance Bath (2019), a sculpture fashioned from a discarded marble tub, adorned with whimsical shapes reminiscent of the Memphis Group. This marked the beginning of her journey in utilizing found objects, a practice she terms "foraging" for materials.
Rethinking the Mundane: The Art of the Everyday
Celeste possesses an extraordinary ability to imbue commonplace items with both an uncanny familiarity and an alien quality. Her piece, Ouroboros (2025), exemplifies this, transforming a collection of old CDs into a captivating chain. Similarly, her "Dream of Pearl" series (2023) creates the illusion of delicate pearls resting on soft surfaces, yet these pieces are crafted from robust materials like acrylic skylight domes and bowling balls, cleverly manipulated to appear weightless.
Principles of Creation: Balancing Intent and Resourcefulness
Celeste adheres to a fluid set of principles in her artistic process. She aims to alter objects minimally, preventing them from becoming mere readymades, while also avoiding the use of new materials. This commitment reflects both an environmental consciousness, highlighting the inherent beauty in discarded items, and a practical financial consideration. More importantly, she believes used objects carry a history and unique character, enriching her work.
The Poetics of Tension: Dualities in Form and Concept
The initial shock of recognizing the ordinary origins of her materials quickly gives way to an appreciation of the profound tension within Celeste's sculptures. This tension, both abstract and tangible, explores the interplay between different classes and movements in art, blending the elegance of Minimalism with the everyday accessibility of readymades and Pop Art. Pending Mobile (2024) visually encapsulates this dynamic, with a spherical form stretched through a grid, on the verge of rupture, embodying the active verbs that define her work: stretched, pierced, bent, suspended. Her frequent participation in two-person exhibitions further underscores her fascination with dualities.
Sculptures as Self-Reflections: An Intimate Glimpse
Ultimately, Celeste views her sculptures as a form of self-portraiture. While not overtly literal, her art mirrors her complex inner world, characterized by a "tumultuous" push-pull and a sense of belonging to multiple identities—Black and Jewish, feminine and androgynous. Despite these inherent dissonances, she finds a "romantic" quality in harmonizing these disparate elements, creating beautiful and compelling narratives through her art.