Phantom Camp, 2012
ceramics, sleeping bags; dimensions variable
Phantom Camp is an installation consisting of sleeping bags and ceramic dog heads—two types of object that are not easily associated with each other. The figures that these objects have been used to create are ambiguous in character: it’s unclear if they represent outcasts; best friends; fantastic, metamorphic creatures; or omens of death. Their colourful and playful qualities may be seen as references to the elephant shelter of the Riga circus, in which they are housed, as well as to a certain vagrancy that is associated both with wild dogs and traveling circuses. Because of the way it references the dog as an icon, the assemblage may also be seen as a collection of talismans, casting spells for itinerant travellers, nomads, and interstellar spacefarers lost in an expanding galaxy.
Lemsalu creates objects and actions that refer both to the techniques of folk traditions and to imagined scenarios drawn from futuristic fantasy worlds. With a background in ceramics, she experiments with materiality and abstracted notions of the body in multi-layered works that combine various materials in delicate assemblages. Porcelain sculptures shaped like human and non-human body parts are united with found, natural materials like fur, leather and wool. These installations can provide self-sufficient narratives or alternatively can serve as stages for Lemsalu’s performances— the sculptures becoming props and parts of her costumes. In recent works—such as Going, going, performed with Kyp Malone at the Performa 17 Biennial in New York, curated by Esa Nickle and Maaike Gouwenberg—the artist has added a new element to her performances by collaborating with musicians.
Artist’s website: www.krislemsalu.com