The Potter (with Peepers)

Em Kettner

BornNationalityBased In
1988AmericanRichmond
Biography

Em Kettner’s miniature, figurative sculptures are contextualised by the artist’s experience of muscular dystrophy, intimacy and the fragility of embodied interdependence. She weaves silk and cotton threads onto fragmented porcelain structures, creating tiny beds and colourfully-patterned surfaces, leaving out the limbs and heads of her tiny characters. Whether sickbeds or love-beds or both, the sculptures and their figures reference the physical fragility and mutual support of Kettner’s experience. The miniature scale of her works alludes to votative objects placed on altars as pleas for the relief of pain or illness. Eroticism, religion, joy and ecstasy intertwine in the artist’s delicate figures, challenging the idea of a “normal” body and the hurtful stereotypes about the disability community. Written by Goldsmiths CCA ...

Selected Artworks
The Swingers
Em Kettner
The Swingers, 2021
7.62 x 20.32 x 13.97cm
The Piggyback (Self-Portrait with Adam)
Em Kettner
The Piggyback (Self-Portrait with Adam), 2021
8.26 x 14.6 x 7.62cm
The Long Night
Em Kettner
The Long Night, 2021
8.89 x 7.62 x 7.62cm
The Lemon Drop Dream
Em Kettner
The Lemon Drop Dream, 2021
8.89 x 12.7 x 6.35cm
The Cross
Em Kettner
The Cross, 2021
25.4 x 24.13 x 8.89cm
The Divining Rod
Em Kettner
The Divining Rod, 2021
24.13 x 6.35 x 3.81cm
The Blue Mother
Em Kettner
The Blue Mother, 2021
7.62 x 16.51 x 11.43cm
The Sycophant
Em Kettner
The Sycophant, 2019
8.89 x 26.67 x 13.97cm
The Supplicant
Em Kettner
The Supplicant, 2020
7.62 x 30.48 x 7.62cm
The Orchard
Em Kettner
The Orchard, 2020
15.24 x 10.16 x 2.54cm
The Mirror
Em Kettner
The Mirror, 2020
22.86 x 10.16 x 2.54cm
The Supplicant
Em Kettner
The Supplicant, 2020
10.16 x 20.32 x 7.62cm
The Mending Bed
Em Kettner
The Mending Bed, 2020
10.16 x 15.24 x 15.24cm
The Lovers’ Quarrel
Em Kettner
The Lovers’ Quarrel, 2020
7.62 x 7.62 x 7.62cm
The Invalid
Em Kettner
The Invalid, 2020
10.16 x 10.16 x 5.08cm
The Prairie Sickbed
Em Kettner
The Prairie Sickbed, 2020
12.7 x 10.16 x 7.62cm
St. Francis and the Flies
Em Kettner
St. Francis and the Flies, 2020
17.78 x 5.08 x 5.08cm
The Pilgrim
Em Kettner
The Pilgrim, 2020
5.08 x 20.32 x 2.54cm
The Invalids
Em Kettner
The Invalids, 2020
7.62 x 20.32 x 7.62cm
Settle
Em Kettner
Settle, 2021
16.5 x 14cm
Opening Act
Em Kettner
Opening Act, 2022
12 x 14.5 x 1cm
The Bridge
Em Kettner
The Bridge, 2022
16.5 x 14cm
Hephaestus in the Hollow
Em Kettner
Hephaestus in the Hollow, 2024
38 x 38 x 4cm
Stage Fright
Em Kettner
Stage Fright, 2024
18 x 26.5 x 2.5cm
Fever Dream
Em Kettner
Fever Dream, 2023
13.5 x 12.5 x 2.5cm
The Hereafter
Em Kettner
The Hereafter, 2023
25.5 x 12.5 x 2.5cm
The Potter (with Peepers)
Em Kettner
The Potter (with Peepers), 2025
24 x 40.5 x 2.5cm
The Sleepwalker (Violet Evening)
Em Kettner
The Sleepwalker (Violet Evening), 2025
24 x 41.5 x 2.5cm
Night Bloomers
Em Kettner
Night Bloomers, 2025
28 x 35.5 x 2.5cm
The Sleepwalker (Harvest Moon)
Em Kettner
The Sleepwalker (Harvest Moon), 2025
25.5 x 40.5 x 2.5cm
The Gardener
Em Kettner
The Gardener, 2025
27.9 x 38.1 x 2.5cm
The Burlesque Patient
Em Kettner
The Burlesque Patient, 2025
25.5 x 40.5 x 2.5cm
Gallery Representation
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