Elizabeth Scott: Ace of Cups
December 7, 2024 - January 25, 2025
Opening Reception: December 7, 4-6pm
Working in the figurative tradition of Viola Frey, Elizabeth Scott uses clay to emphasize the tactile qualities of expression and gesture, exploring the body's relationship to memory and trauma with a keen sense of humor that transforms pathos into play. In Ace of Cups, her first solo exhibition at Craig Krull Gallery, Scott presents more than 50 ceramic face cups. Each one is a portrait of an emotion, from a passing fear to a quiet hope. Some faces appear gleeful, evoking cartoonish English character jugs, while others look melancholy or even deranged, with an edge that evokes Magdalena Suarez Frimkess’ sculptures. Scott uses a needle tool to cut pleading phrases and oblique references into some of their foreheads: “take me home,” “not long for this world,” or simply, “Led Zeppelin.” Pastel glazes run like blood down cheeks and noses, symbolic of violent changes in the psyche. In tarot readings, the Ace of Cups card—which inspired the exhibition’s title—can be a sign of inner turmoil and repressed emotions, or, an omen of new love and burgeoning creativity. Just as a tarot card spread might help you make sense of the past, present, and future, Scott’s cups read as an ongoing attempt at consolidating a sense of self.
