SF/Arts Curator Insight

Ceramic artist Lorien Stern lives and works in the Mojave Desert, creating pop ceramic sculptures that express serious subjects (fear, death, the environment) through "happy goofy" objects. She made bright, smiling shark heads to address her galeophobia, and cartoon tombstones to mark the death of her grandparents. The "Old Friends" in Stern's upcoming SF show are long extinct, including: a smiling saber tooth tiger, a bright yellow pterodactyl spreading pale pink wings, and a crimson tyrannosaurus holding out yellow-tipped claws in a gesture that resembles waiting for newly applied nail polish to dry.