Nat Breitenstein

Tocasenh

Exhibition: 20 September-19 October 2024

Standpoint presented the first London solo exhibition by Nat Breitenstein, comprising installation, sculpture, and sound.

Nat Breitenstein’s work delves into the intricate intersection of internal processes and materiality, looking at how this convergence leads to a process of 'coming to be'. She is particularly intrigued by emotional and psychological landscapes and the power dynamics that contribute to the definition and formation of our identities within the worlds we inhabit. Whether crafting functional or non-functional objects, she persists in an ongoing exploration of the inherent reality of things.

In ‘Tocasenh’ - a medieval Provençal word that refers to the act of striking a bell - Breitenstein takes familiar forms and motifs and imbues them with a striking weirdness. Combining the soft angles of the body with the hollow curves of a vessel, Breitenstein’s ceramics are subtly organic, majestic, and haunting. There is an awkwardness to the forms, suggesting that they do not totally belong to the world they are occupying. Drawing on ancient pottery traditions, Breitenstein’s work straddles the binary between art and function, refusing to fully inhabit either role.

The exhibition was accompanied by a text by Asa Seresin. Click here to download.
(PDF, 3 pages, 91 KB)

Nat Breitenstein (b.1965 NY, USA) lives and works in London. She holds an MA Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, BA (Hons) Fine Art Sculpture from Chelsea College of Art and Design and a BA (Hons) Philosophy, University College London.

Selected group shows include: EQX 22. 20:20. 21, French Riviera Gallery, London (2021); Entre Amis Deux, French Riviera Gallery, London (2019); Grand Magasin Deux, French Riviera Gallery, London (2015); Grand Magasin, French Riviera Gallery, London (2013); ‘Strangelove Studios Presents’, Part of London Gallery Day (2013); Les Televisions, French Riviera Gallery, London (2011); The Club Room, The Russian Club Gallery, London (2010); ‘Forbidden Spectacle’ National Museum of Fine Arts, La Valleta, Malta (2006); ’Syncopations: British Art Now’, Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm (2005)

Image: Nat Breitenstein, Coupled, Doubled, 2024.