DISEMBODIED GAZER

Born 1982 in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, Lenker holds a MFA from Tyler School of Art and a BFA from The University of the Arts. Born as a Jehovah’s Witness, a religion he experienced as personally and philosophically apocalyptic and is no longer an adherent, Lenker explores concepts of creative destruction stemming from this experience. He has exhibited solo projects in both Philadelphia and New York and has shown in group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. Lenker has received several important accolades in the last two years. He had a major exhibition at The Galleries at Moore (Philadelphia) in 2017, was commissioned to create an outdoor tile mural for the new Project Home Residence for Homeless LGBTQ Youth in 2018, and was named a prestigious NCECA Emerging Artist in 2019 (Roberto Lugo won this in 2015).

This represents a major first museum acquisition for his work, long fiercely admired by craft and fine art circles in Philadelphia and beyond. His use of digital software to transfer images onto the ceramic surface connects to histories of 18th-19th century transferware evident in the MFA collection, and represents innovations within contemporary ceramics and craft. In Lenker’s own words: “With my ceramics, I am replicating the digital objects in the physical world and vice versa. I want them to be between here and there. I cover them with digital skins, images from online searches, and I add lighting effects to make them appear “natural.” Through this handmade recreation I attempt to force a more intimate experience of the digital. This work is an extension of my interest in translations between virtual and real spaces. I was drawn to the Medusa image because of the focus on a powerful gaze. I’m interested in the way we embody others while also being disembodied from our own physical selves when interacting in virtual spaces, such as social media and in video games. The severed head is reflective of this focus, a kind of cerebral disconnect.”