In the project space, Katrina Balling is represented by a group of new paintings that uncover the secret personalities to be found hidden among her large collection of kitschy ceramic figurines. Painting with an extreme sensitivity to the play of light over the surfaces of her tiny porcelain creatures, Balling isolates and presents them against a single color in a larger, more lifelike scale that lifts them from simple objecthood and imbues them with an individual and more directly confrontational presence. In so doing Balling invests these humble decorative objects with a distinct anthropomorphic and psychological charge. In a sense these paintings act as talismanic portraits unlocking the spectrum of emotive response that her figures contain spanning from serene bliss to profound anxiety. Balling's work also pays homage to pop sources with its' cooly photographic shadings, suggestive vignetting, and shiny enamel grounds. In a recent interview she commented, " I am cramming these images with as much meaning as I can project onto them. The act of projecting a human likeness or personality on animals, or even better, the inanimate is an expression of our desire to understand the world as we understand ourselves." By means of the close examination evident in these paintings Katrina Balling brings these odd little figurines to life and by making them larger than life invites us to participate in their curious animation.

Katrina Balling has an MFA from School of Visual Arts. This is her first solo show in NYC.