Shana Kaplow: Inhabit

Shana Kaplow’s ink paintings, wall installations, and videos reflect her interest in what is sensed but not seen, activating what cultural theorist, Sara Ahmed calls “the absent presence.” In her installations, images of mass-produced furniture such as chairs, tables, pillows, stepladders, and worker’s stools become stand-ins for the body’s psychological and political presence. Choosing objects that extend, elevate or support the body, Kaplow’s portrayals conjure the presence of the user, but also the bodies of the workers who produced them. How are individual lives connected to larger social and global forces? Kaplow is interested in looking at these relationships that are hidden from sight, intimate, or held at a distance.