NARANJO 141 is pleased to present Daydreams in the Blue House, a solo exhibition of new works by Los Angeles-based artist, Taylor Lee (b.1981, Las Vegas). This exhibition marks the artist's first presentation in Mexico.

Blending Asian pop-culture imagery with the iconography of ancient female figuration, Lee’s whimsical ceramics reveal the deep roots that body-positivity, and progressive notions of the female body, have in the past. In this latest series of works made in Mexico City, Lee finds inspiration in the vast lineage of pre-Hispanic and Mesoamerican female representation. In her suite of playful ceramics, voluminous figures are presented in varying states of joy: dreaming up piles of smiles, bearing vessels that sprout flowers, posing in stances that beam with upbeat defiance. Drawn from the angular, faceted architecture of Mexico City and the heaviness of Mayan clay-craft, the pieces’ sturdy profiles represent a departure from Lee’s previous organic forms. Glazed in a palette culled from Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul, the robust ceramics in Daydreams in the Blue House evoke a spirit of female resilience that is both indebted to art history and critically attuned to our current moment.

The lighthearted motifs that appear throughout Daydreams in the Blue House are drawn from folkloric and pop-culture traditions alike. Smiley faces that could have been pulled from the pages of a comic book adorn utilitarian pots, clothes, and footwear. Women bearing the load of pots and vessels reference Mesoamerican figures bearing fertility. Lee's female forms hint at the evolved weight that women carry today – her modern vessels and flowerpots can be seen as a symbol for the modern woman's responsibilities and choices: perhaps a career-path versus the obligation to bear a child. The flowers, vessels, bathing suits and sandals reinforce the impression of a liberated moment emerging from a shared history.

In her examination of representations of the female body, Lee continues to explore ideas of reminiscence and lost histories. Her joyful and optimistic depictions of women fuse past and present, pop-culture and folk art, whimsicality and sentimentality. Faced with her female models, the viewer has the opportunity to consider how, for much of history, the idolized feminine archetype was voluminous and curved. In the wake of our current shift toward progressive notions of the body, Lee’s forms remind us of the openness that can be found in the past, and shine light on modern-day tendencies and normative culture.

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