Couched
by Britny Wainwright

June 4 – July 17, 2021

Couched is an exhibition featuring the sculptural work of Britny Wainwright. Fascinated with domestic objects and material mis-performance, the artist combines vinyl and ceramic to support, protect, bulge, and defamiliarize objects. Terra-cotta hangers support vinyl pouches of delicate ceramic leaves derived from plants and women’s bodies. Like most vegetal ornament in decorative art history, the themes of sexuality and abundance are read between the lines, or in this case, between the leaves.

Wainwright’s interest in the couch, the “ugly” couch in particular, is also present in this exhibition. Often encased in a clear plastic slipcover to shield them from the humans that sit upon them, these “ugly” couches live a strange life between idyllic landscape, lush garden, and our popcorn dust. The motifs that dot the surface of our beloved couches often go overlooked, and Wainwright is on a mission to make us look again. Couched will feature an interactive couch that invites viewers to settle and feel the way their body sinks and sags the encasement.

Britny Wainwright (1990) employs ceramic and mixed material to construct sculpture that blends traditions of painting and ornament. Deeply invested in pulling apart the historically gendered hierarchy surrounding decoration and high art, she advocates for assertive decorative language in the gallery.

Britny has shown work at the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, CT, The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR, and VisArts in Rockville, MD, among others. She has held residencies at Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs, NY, and The Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA. She is a cofounder of Dream Clinic Project Space in Columbus, OH and will be showing work at Roy G Biv Gallery in the summer of 2021.

Britny teaches as a Lecturer and Adjunct at The Ohio State University and Capital Universities. She served as Visiting Assistant Professor in Ceramics at Denison University for the 2017-18 academic year. She earned an MFA in ceramics from Ohio State University in 2017, and a BFA from Alfred University in 2012. From upstate New York, Britny now maintains a studio practice in Columbus, Ohio.