RAE STERN

ARTWORK

AVAILABLE ARTWORK

A FUGAL ARRANGEMENT

The elusive and ephemeral nature of memory as both a personal and universal phenomenon is the focus of Rae Stern’s installation. A Fugal Arrangement presents a collection of interactive porcelain objects that upon touch light up from within, exposing for a brief moment a hidden lithophane. Through the manipulation of the translucent attributes of porcelain, and with innovative use of digital technology, the work poses questions about the relationship between object, memory, and time.

Stern created the Outside Time body of work as a visiting artist at Belger Crane Yard Studios In Kansas City.  To establish a framework for community engagement, she invited local residents of Kansas City to share images and family narratives to be used in her work, alongside images from her own family and friends. The images that inspired the lithophanes portray daily scenes from pre-war life in communities across Europe that were later annihilated. 

Loosely drawing from early 20th century commercial German designs, the porcelain teaware evoke the intimacy of daily familial interactions. To create the illusion of an image, Stern manipulated the thickness of the porcelain, allowing light to travel only through the thin parts of the piece. Neither projection nor pigment was used to create the image. 

Material culture functions as a medium in Stern’s work and amplifies the sociological and psychological values encapsulated in objects that are traditionally (dis)regarded as functional. The bricolage of vintage pre- and post-war furniture was carefully collected and echoes the ever changing context in which the porcelain objects exist, being passed from one owner to another as time goes by. 

The use of technology provides an unfamiliar experience with the familiar objects, advancing the potential of contemporary ceramics to offer an engaging experience. By inviting the viewers to touch the ceramic objects, the installation environment brings to life narratives and memories assigned to family heirlooms and explores the potential and limitations of porcelain objects as repositories for fading memories.

Stern sees an urgency in creating the artwork while survivors are still able to tell their stories and interact with the general public. The importance of the timing is amplified in the context of the ongoing international refugee crisis and the resurgence of expressions of racism, xenophobia, fascism and hate speech.

Read More
CLOSE

INQUIRE HERE

SERIES & INSTALLATIONS

IN FUGUE: OUTSIDE TIME

As an immersive experience, the installation Outside Time presents dozens of porcelain objects that upon touch light up from within, exposing hidden lithophanes. Combining innovative technology with traditional techniques, the work examines the elusive and ephemeral nature of memory as both a personal and universal phenomenon.

The body of work was created by Stern during her year-long term as Visiting Artist at the Belger Crane Yard Studios and utilizes a porcelain lithophane technique on which she collaborated with Aya Margulis. The ceramic objects are set in bricolage of vintage furniture and juxtaposed with works in paper. See these works, titled In Fugue: Hypomnemata, below.

Elinore Noyes Vignette The Underlying Neural Networks, 2019

During one of my conversations with Elinore Noyes, a bright intern from KCAI, she mentioned that during WWII, her Dutch great grandparents, Walle and Ellie Nauta, harbored a teenage Jewish girl under the guise of a live-in nanny for their newborn daughter, Tjalda (Elinore’s grandmother). The Jewish girl, Dina Dasberg Angress survived the war and later immigrated to the United States, where she started a family, worked as a social worker, and later adopted a child herself. The war and the dangerous decision changed the lives of both families and affected the narratives of the following generations. Elinore writes:

“My grandmother has mixed memories of this time: of fear, bombings, and hunger, yet also of normality, laughter, and happiness. She remembers playing outside on sunny days while she also remembers the bombing of their neighbor’s house. Even during wartime, she and her family, including Dina, maintained familiar everyday routines. Yet the war impacted her long beyond its end in 1945. The experience of war shaped her directly for the time that she lived through it, but more so in the indirect effect that it had upon her through the experience of her parents, relatives, and Dina.”

Read More
CLOSE

Irene Starr Vignette Civility, 2019

Irene’s parents, Ruth and Sally Stiefel, married in July 1938. On Kristallnacht, November 9tth 1938, Sally was arrested and taken to Buchenwald concentration camp. Appealing to the German and American officials, Ruth presented approved immigration papers and travel tickets to the USA, in hopes that her husband would be released. Fortunately, he was let go five weeks later, perhaps due to his former service in the German Army during WWI. The couple left Hamburg, Germany, for New York City on March 16, 1939 and settled in Kansas City in April 1939. Irene still has a few items that her parents managed to bring with them from Germany, including Bavarian china, drapery and a folding top hat.

Read More
CLOSE

Elia Stern Vignette: This may have been Suwalki, 2019

For many years my family knew little about the Polish side of our family. My mother’s grandparents fled Poland in the 1930’s to then British Mandate Palestine. In the years that followed, many of their relatives were murdered and they spoke little of the devastating loss. The teapot they brought with them and passed down to my mother continues to serve as a reminder of the life left behind. Growing up in the pre-internet world, I remember the awe and excitement that my mother, Elia, expressed when she first found a blurry photograph of what was possibly the village her grandparents came from. Regardless of the questionable authenticity of the picture, it was something to hold on to; like a blurred scene from a soon to be forgotten dream or an anchor to reclaim the past.

Read More
CLOSE

Grandma Stern meets Savta Miriam, 2019

On both sides of my lineage, my great grandmothers had experienced substantial loss and hardship throughout their lives. Two of them, Miriam (Mascha) Brahmson and May (Manya) Stern left their hometowns and emigrated in search of safety. Manya escaped Russia to the United States in the years following the 1905 revolution, due to the repeated pogroms targeting Jews ignited by Cossacks. Mascha escaped Poland during the 1930’s with the rise of antisemitism there and raised her family in Israel. The two never crossed paths, but I imagine they would have had much to share had they met.

Read More
CLOSE

IN FUGUE: HYPOMNEMATA

At the Belger Crane Yard Gallery, the exhibition Rae Stern: In Fugue debuted new works in porcelain and paper and focuses on the elusive and ephemeral nature of memory as both a personal and universal phenomenon.

To create the large scale translucent paper, Stern manipulated the thickness of the pulp without using any pigment. The daylight shines through the thinner parts of the handmade paper, exposing the image.

In this work, Stern revisit the photographs of five young women, whose photographs she collected for the Outside Time installation. The illuminated youthful gazes, are contrasted by the tragic events that later unfolded in their lives.

Stern wonders which medium is the most suitable for these fleeting memories. While juxtaposing the paper with the porcelain she asks:

“If each material has its own set of vulnerabilities, which will outlast the other? How dependent is our collective memory on our choice of medium?”

SHAPING MEMORIES: EXPRESSIONS IN CLAY

Exhibition at Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
Virginia Beach, VA | November 27, 2021 – March 6, 2022

Featuring works from Rae Stern’s Installation, Outside Time

The power of memory is immeasurable. Individual recollections are the building blocks of our sense of self, while collective memories help define our culture. In this exhibition, six artists use clay to explore formative moments in their lives as well as stories passed down through generations, inviting viewers to consider both the uniqueness of every individual and our shared identities.

Clay has been used to create functional and decorative objects for millennia. The artists in Shaping Memories continue the rich artistic tradition of clay, exploring its creative potential and versatility. A ceramic object can preserve information about the society in which it was made for thousands of years, a charge these artists take seriously in the creation of their work. What happens when people, cultures, and traditions are forgotten, and histories are erased? How can objects help us remember, honor, and share stories of our time?

NATURE/NURTURE

NCECA 2021 Virtual Conference
Rivers, Reflections, and Reinvention
March 17, 2021 – March 21, 2021

Exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
March 17, 2021 – May 29, 2021

In March 2020, Ferrin Contemporary invited a group of women artists to explore the influence of gender and its impact on their creative practice. In 2021, Nature/Nurture returned with new additional works as a virtual exhibition at NCECA’s first virtual conference, with select works on view at Ferrin Contemporary. Rae Stern’s “Steve Sherry: Not old friends but good friends” (2019), was featured in the exhibition.

Rae Stern, "Steve Sherry: Not old friends but good friends" 2019, unglazed porcelain, digital components, LED light, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, 3D printed TPU filament, vintage furniture.

Steve Sherry Vignette: Not old friends but good friends
2019-2020
unglazed porcelain, digital components, LED light, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, 3D printed TPU filament, vintage furniture
dimensions variable with furniture

Sometime in the mid 1930’s, an American couple, Essie and David Felberbaum were touring Vienna and walked into the store “Bruder Felberbaum” to inquire whether, by chance, they were related to the owners. Despite sharing the uncommon surname, they were unrelated and left after a friendly chat with the owner’s son, Otto Serebrenik (later Sherry). On Kristallnacht, 11.9.1938, the store was destroyed like many other Jewish-owned shops. Otto, now married with a baby, was desperate to get his family out of Austria and reached out to the American couple (who had left a card). Despite the short and random acquaintance, Essie and David agreed to sponsor the request for immigration and in January ’39, Otto, Lili and their son Steve fled Austria on board the Aquitania from Cherbourg, France, to NYC. Otto’s mother stayed in Austria and later perished on the way to a concentration camp. During one of our conversations, Steve described the American couple as “not old friends, but good friends”. I often think of this statement and of how profoundly impactful we can be on each other’s lives, even as strangers.

Read More about the work
CLOSE

ABOUT

RAE STERN

WWW.RAESTERNSTUDIO.COM

CV

BIO

STATEMENTS

ABOUT

b. 1981, Haifa, Israel
lives and works in New York, NY

Rae Stern’s practice employs digital tools in the manipulation of multiple media including ceramics, photography, paper, video and textiles. After a decade in the high-tech industry, her work is concerned with the social and cultural effects of technology, narrative and memory. She has attended residencies at Anderson Ranch, Belger Crane Yard Studios, and Englewood Arts, as well as received training at the Penland School of Crafts, Greenwich House Pottery, and the 92nd St. Y ceramics studios. Stern has received grants from Asylum Arts, Belger Arts, and Englewood Arts.

Stern’s work has been exhibited at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia Beach, VA), Des Moines Art Center (Des Moines, IA), Grand Rapids Art Museum (Grand Rapids, MI), Eretz Israel Museum, (Tel Aviv, Israel), Belger Arts, (Kansas City, MO), Harvard University, (Cambridge, MA), and Medalta Museum, (Alberta, Canada). Her work is included in the collections of the Racine Art Museum (Racine, WI), The International Museum of Dinnerware Design (Ann Arbor, MI), The Eretz Israel Museum, (Tel Aviv, Israel), as well as numerous private collections in Israel and the US.

Stern completed her undergraduate degree in psychology and communications at Tel Aviv University, followed by a master’s degree in design from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem.

ON HER WORK

I strive to serve as a witness, documenting elusive human phenomenon. By emulating the anonymous makers throughout history, I produce objects that can serve as evidence of global and personal experiences of this era. These artifacts seek to reveal the idiosyncrasies in contemporary human interaction. They embrace the potential of connection and expose its limits. My process combines traditional and industrial techniques that serve the concept. Often, I source imagery and manipulate it to tie the concept with the form. The imagery functions as bait, luring the viewer with a familiarity that is later exposed as merely an illusion.

FC NEWS & STORIES | NATURE/NURTURE | Rae Stern | In Fugue | Museum Acquisition

ON NATURE/NURTURE

Spending time at American art residencies has impacted my professional growth in unpredictable ways. Coming from a non-ceramic background, residencies allowed me to immerse myself in open-end exploration and experimentation with the medium. As an immigrant, spending time at these unique transient ecosystems offered an opportunity to build a professional network despite having graduated from a foreign school. One of the best experiences was the recent year-long residence at Belger Arts, KC, MO, during which I created the exhibition “Rae Stern: In Fugue”. The close mentorship from Evelyn Craft-Belger and the Belger Arts team was an empowering vote of confidence in my conceptual body of work as well as an unparalleled opportunity to step up the scope and technical complexity of my work.

NATURE OF NURTURING | Notes from Director Leslie Ferrin

DIRECTOR NOTES ON RAE STERN

Rae Stern and I met through Ceramic Top 40, the 2013 survey of contemporary ceramics organized to address the absence of documented, comprehensive, media specific surveys during that time. With support from Belger Arts, the exhibition was presented at their newly opened, expansive space in Kansas City, MO and again, in 2014 at the newly opened gallery of Office of the Arts, Harvard Ceramics.

Stern’s work in CT40 show featured Web Souvenirs, a collaboration with Aya Margulis that used printed transfers on plates of images sourced from the internet. Attending the opening began a relationship with Belger Arts that led to the long term artist residency and enabled her to tackle the process of using photography, porcelain and lithopanes. The fall exhibition, In Fugue presented the resulting 30 vignettes as a complete installation with images sourced from the community. Selected individual works are featured in Nature/Nurture at Ferrin Contemporary and an online exclusive on ARTSY.

Nature/Nurture, like Ceramic Top 40, is a survey exhibition that explores and documents the work of a group of artists at a specific moment in time. The nurturing role of survey exhibitions becomes more evident as careers evolve.

Due to the extended run of Nature/Nurture, we have been given the opportunity to reflect on paths taken, connections made and shared experiences in our now weekly series of FC News & Stories, each issue focusing on an individual artist in the exhibition. The ON NURTURE statements by each artist acknowledges family, artist mentors, education, and, particularly in Rae Stern’s case, recognition of the importance of foundation support and artist residencies in the development of new works by individual artists.

Read more on The CERAMIC TOP 40 exhibition & The NATURE/NURTURE series.

IN FUGUE STATEMENTS

ON IN FUGUE

Part of a recent body of work by Stern, the porcelain objects light up from within upon touch and expose hidden lithophanes. Stern collected the pre-WWII images from both her personal archive and through community outreach to people who suffered persecution during the war. The images depicted in the lithophanes often portray daily scenes from life in communities across Europe that were later annihilated.

By creating an immersive experience and inviting the viewers to touch the ceramic objects, the work brings to life narratives and memories assigned to porcelain heirlooms and explores the potential and limitations of porcelain as a repository for fading memories.

ON “Steve Sherry: Not old friends but good friends”

Sometime in the mid 1930’s, an American couple, Essie and David Felberbaum were touring Vienna and walked into the store “Bruder Felberbaum” to inquire whether, by chance, they were related to the owners. Despite sharing the uncommon surname, they were unrelated and left after a friendly chat with the owner’s son, Otto Serebrenik (later Sherry). On Kristallnacht, 11.9.1938, the store was destroyed like many other Jewish-owned shops. Otto, now married with a baby, was desperate to get his family out of Austria and reached out to the American couple (who had left a card). Despite the short and random acquaintance, Essie and David agreed to sponsor the request for immigration and in January ’39, Otto, Lili and their son Steve fled Austria on board the Aquitania from Cherbourg, France, to NYC. Otto’s mother stayed in Austria and later perished on the way to a concentration camp.

The touch sensitive photographic lithophanes portrays the pre-war images of Steve’s parents, Otto and Lili Serebrenik. The three managed to escape Nazi Austria with the help of near strangers who sponsored their immigration to the United States. During one of our conversations, Steve described the American couple as “not old friends, but good friends”. I often think of this statement and of how profoundly impactful we can be on each other’s lives, even as strangers.

EXHIBITIONS

RECENT & UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

Ferrin Contemporary presents Paul Scott in "Our America/Whose America?". Installation for NCECA Richmond, 2024 at the Wickham House at The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA. Image courtesy of The Valentine Museum.

Ferrin Contemporary presents Paul Scott in “Our America/Whose America?”. Installation for NCECA Richmond, 2024 at the Wickham House at The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA. Image courtesy of The Valentine Museum.

OUR AMERICA/WHOSE AMERICA?

2024 | Group Exhibition in the Wickham House at the Valentine Museum | Richmond, VA

February 20, 2024 – April 21, 2024

Our America/Whose America? Is a “call and response” exhibition between contemporary artists and historic ceramic objects.

View the exhibition page HERE

Ferrin Contemporary “Our America/Whose America?” Library Installation at the Wickham House, Richmond, VA, 2024

PAST EXHIBITIONS

OUTSIDE TIME: Rae Stern

OUTSIDE TIME: Rae Stern

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION As an immersive experience, the installation Outside Time presents dozens of porcelain objects that upon touch light up from within, exposing hidden lithophanes. Combining innovative technology with...
View More
HYPOMNEMATA: Rae Stern

HYPOMNEMATA: Rae Stern

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION Recently on view at the Belger Crane Yard Gallery, the exhibition Rae Stern: In Fugue debuted new works in porcelain and paper and focuses on the elusive...
View More
CERAMIC TOP 40

CERAMIC TOP 40

SURVEY EXHIBITION 2013 - 2015 | 3-City US TOUR ABOUT THE EXHIBITION CERAMIC TOP 40 Belger Crane Yard Studios, Kansas City, MO presented by Ferrin Contemporary and Red Star Studios...
View More

NEWS

NEWS

Kristallnacht Commemoration: Rae Stern

Kristallnacht Commemoration: Rae Stern

Kristallnacht Commemoration: Rae Stern Midwest Center for Holocaust Education November 7, 2019 "This year’s community-wide Kristallnacht commemoration will feature a program presented by Israeli-American artist Rae Stern. She will talk...
READ MORE

CATALOGS

“Underneath Everything: Humility and Grandeur in Contemporary Ceramics” | Catalog Preview

Published in conjunction with the exhibition UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING: HUMILITY AND GRANDEUR IN CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS, organized by Mia Laufer, Associate Curator at the Des Moines Art Center.

Underneath Everything Catalogue Preview featuring Rae Stern

Underneath Everything Catalog preview featuring Rae Stern

To view or purchase the full catalog, please visit The Des Moines Art Center Shop

“Rae Stern: In Fugue” | Limited Edition Catalog

Published by Breakroom Studio, 2022

“Rae Stern: In Fugue”, Exhibition Catalogue, Published by Breakroom Studio, 2022
“Rae Stern: In Fugue”, Exhibition Catalogue, Published by Breakroom Studio, 2022

Rae Stern: In Fugue Exhibition catalogue preview from Rae Stern Studio on Vimeo.

“Rae Stern: In Fugue” | Limited Edition Catalog

This exhibition catalog is now available as a limited edition. The publication includes essays by Glenn Adamson and Margaret Carney,
alongside photography by T. Maxwell Wagner.

Also included are the stories behind the images that inspired the work, as well as an essay by the artist about the process of creating the exhibition.

The publication was designed by Dan Saal in collaboration with the artist. The design brings to life the tactile experience of the exhibition in a two-dimensional format. The project received generous support from Evelyn and Dick Belger.

To view or purchase the “Rae Stern: In Fugue” Catalog, please visit Rae Stern’s website.

“Rae Stern: In Fugue” | Exhibition Catalog

Published by Belger Arts, 2020

“Rae Stern: In Fugue” | Belger Arts Exhibition Catalog

This catalog is 16 pages long and includes insights into the In Fugue series and Stern’s exhibition at Belger Arts.

Part of a recent body of work by Stern, the porcelain objects light up from within upon touch and expose hidden lithophanes.

By creating an immersive experience and inviting the viewers to touch the ceramic objects, the work brings to life narratives and memories assigned to porcelain heirlooms and explores the potential and limitations of porcelain as a repository for fading memories.

VIDEOS

VIDEOS

RAE STERN: IN FUGUE

from Rae Stern Studio

Directed and Produced by Johanna Brooks.

Filmed on site at the Belger Art Center and Crane Yard Studios, Kansas City, MO. 2019-2020
Additional footage by Saj Issa, Cydney Ross and Katie Pitre. Professional Photography by T. Maxwell Wagner.

RAE STERN: OUTSIDE TIME

Shaping Memories: Expressions
in Clay at Virginia MOCA

Interview with artist Rae Stern, exhibiting artist in Shaping Memories: Expressions in Clay at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA). Created by Jeremy Bates Film.

INQUIRE

INQUIRE