Theaster Gates

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'Gates's sculptural practice is also based on remnants—humble materials "potent" (a word he favors) with associations. He saves furnishings and pieces of derelict buildings, formerly inhabited by black people, for reuse in his sculptures. His aesthetic is minimalist but infused with a strong sense of narrative; his thronelike, custom-upholstered shoeshine stands, stacks of plates embedded in concrete blocks, and framed, rolled-up fire hoses all speak to aspects of black history and black daily life.'



Untitled (Plates), 2011, the Armory Show

This work really appeals to me aesthetically, and links in with my previous work relating to sentimental memory. The plates as a common domestic object can be strongly linked to memory, for example, I can remember the pattern on the plates in each of the homes I have lived in. At my parents' house the plates were ceramic with a single blue ring around the edge, my grandmother's were brown glass, my first home stay owned clue and white decorated china, and the place I live now there is a collection of different plates, aztec and floral and plain colours, some with chips, all from different op shops.
Then the concrete, a purely industrial material I find to be very raw and lovely - it can be formal or organic, and I like the contrast of that when it's used.