UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021

UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021

UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021

UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021

UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021

UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021 UCLA MFA 2021

CHARLES SNOWDEN CHARLES SNOWDEN CHARLES SNOWDEN CHARLES SNOWDEN CHARLES SNOWDEN
CHARLES SNOWDEN

CHARLES SNOWDEN

Born in Vista, California, Charles Snowden currently lives in Los Angeles. He holds a BA in Studio Art and Art History from Humboldt State University and an MFA in Fine Art from UCLA. Snowden works with objects and video to play with symbolically loaded information that illustrates how western culture constructs the body in relationship to gender, age, death, and nature. While remaining tethered to the sociocultural and sociopolitical through research, the work is a forensic endeavor, not diagnostic, nor prognostic. Re-staging rituals recalls specific imagery from history as vehicles for understanding identity and its meaning. In this, there is hope to cultivate a temperamental poetics that in the case of gardens, artifacts, and storytelling, feels simultaneously medicinal, regenerative, and melancholic.

charlessnowdenstudio@gmail.com www.charlessnowdenstudio.com
 @ipeeinmywetsuit

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Heirloom
audio, parabolic speaker, 38:12
2021
Various shots from different angles of the entire installation in the gallery at Margot Levin Graduate Studios. In the center of the room is an 8’ x 4’ raised tile floor made from unfired clay with ceramic objects adorning its surface. Live plants grow from cracks on top of eight of the tiles. There is a video of a male-figure gardening projected onto the west wall between two iv poles. The audio of the video is faint and comes from the rafters of the gallery. Centered on the north and south walls are classical vases that rest on stainless steel armatures positioned above bedpans that rest directly on the floor. Toward the east wall, off center and facing the tile floor is a ceramic hand on top of an unfinished wood pedestal. Between the hand and the tile floor hangs a parabolic speaker from which a woman’s voice can be heard telling personal stories.
Of Meat More Than Flesh
mixed media installation
2021
Various shots from different angles of the entire installation in the gallery at Margot Levin Graduate Studios. In the center of the room is an 8’ x 4’ raised tile floor made from unfired clay with ceramic objects adorning its surface. Live plants grow from cracks on top of eight of the tiles. There is a video of a male-figure gardening projected onto the west wall between two iv poles. The audio of the video is faint and comes from the rafters of the gallery. Centered on the north and south walls are classical vases that rest on stainless steel armatures positioned above bedpans that rest directly on the floor. Toward the east wall, off center and facing the tile floor is a ceramic hand on top of an unfinished wood pedestal. Between the hand and the tile floor hangs a parabolic speaker from which a woman’s voice can be heard telling personal stories.
Of Meat More Than Flesh
mixed media installation
2021
Various shots from different angles of the entire installation in the gallery at Margot Levin Graduate Studios. In the center of the room is an 8’ x 4’ raised tile floor made from unfired clay with ceramic objects adorning its surface. Live plants grow from cracks on top of eight of the tiles. There is a video of a male-figure gardening projected onto the west wall between two iv poles. The audio of the video is faint and comes from the rafters of the gallery. Centered on the north and south walls are classical vases that rest on stainless steel armatures positioned above bedpans that rest directly on the floor. Toward the east wall, off center and facing the tile floor is a ceramic hand on top of an unfinished wood pedestal. Between the hand and the tile floor hangs a parabolic speaker from which a woman’s voice can be heard telling personal stories.
Of Meat More Than Flesh
mixed media installation
2021
Various shots from different angles of the entire installation in the gallery at Margot Levin Graduate Studios. In the center of the room is an 8’ x 4’ raised tile floor made from unfired clay with ceramic objects adorning its surface. Live plants grow from cracks on top of eight of the tiles. There is a video of a male-figure gardening projected onto the west wall between two iv poles. The audio of the video is faint and comes from the rafters of the gallery. Centered on the north and south walls are classical vases that rest on stainless steel armatures positioned above bedpans that rest directly on the floor. Toward the east wall, off center and facing the tile floor is a ceramic hand on top of an unfinished wood pedestal. Between the hand and the tile floor hangs a parabolic speaker from which a woman’s voice can be heard telling personal stories.
Of Meat More Than Flesh
mixed media installation
2021
Detail shots of an 8’ x 4’ tile floor made from unfired clay with vegetable and herb plants growing through cracks on eight of the tiles. The ceramic objects adorning the surface are representations of different vegetables from my garden and other compostable waste.
 Detail, After Every Unswept Floor
ceramic, clay, live plants, water, mold
2021 
Detail shots of an 8’ x 4’ tile floor made from unfired clay with vegetable and herb plants growing through cracks on eight of the tiles. The ceramic objects adorning the surface are representations of different vegetables from my garden and other compostable waste.
 Detail, After Every Unswept Floor
ceramic, clay, live plants, water, mold
2021 
Detail shots of an 8’ x 4’ tile floor made from unfired clay with vegetable and herb plants growing through cracks on eight of the tiles. The ceramic objects adorning the surface are representations of different vegetables from my garden and other compostable waste.
 Detail, After Every Unswept Floor
ceramic, clay, live plants, water, mold
2021 
Detail shots of an 8’ x 4’ tile floor made from unfired clay with vegetable and herb plants growing through cracks on eight of the tiles. The ceramic objects adorning the surface are representations of different vegetables from my garden and other compostable waste.
 Detail, After Every Unswept Floor
ceramic, clay, live plants, water, mold
2021 
Detail shots of an 8’ x 4’ tile floor made from unfired clay with vegetable and herb plants growing through cracks on eight of the tiles. The ceramic objects adorning the surface are representations of different vegetables from my garden and other compostable waste.
 Detail, After Every Unswept Floor
ceramic, clay, live plants, water, mold
2021 
Detail shots of an 8’ x 4’ tile floor made from unfired clay with vegetable and herb plants growing through cracks on eight of the tiles. The ceramic objects adorning the surface are representations of different vegetables from my garden and other compostable waste.
 Detail, After Every Unswept Floor
ceramic, clay, live plants, water, mold
2021 
Detail shot of a snail charm hanging above a stainless steel bedpan with light reflecting from its surface onto the gallery wall.
Detail, Invocation of Worms
ceramic, stainless steel, red worms, organic waste, bedpan, Paracord
2021
Detail of the back of a ceramic hand on top of a reclaimed wood pedestal. The hand is in the position of the Hand of the Benediction. On top of the thumb is a small rooster. A snail-like creature slides up the back of the hand and extends above the pinky and ring fingers. A snail-shell and butterflies adorn its body. On the ride side of the hand is a phallic staff made to look like an asparagus. In the center is a small lizard with roses below its tail as well as a pine-cone with two acorns on either side. To the left of the lizard is a cherub-like figure with a mermaids tail, a hen upon its head and a baby chick on its backside. Below the figure is a mouse head above a small phallic arch structure. The museum wax holding the hand to the pedestal is slightly visible.
Detail, Invocation of Worms
ceramic, stainless steel, red worms, organic waste, bedpan, Paracord
2021
Various shots from different angles of the entire installation in the gallery at Margot Levin Graduate Studios. In the center of the room is an 8’ x 4’ raised tile floor made from unfired clay with ceramic objects adorning its surface. Live plants grow from cracks on top of eight of the tiles. There is a video of a male-figure gardening projected onto the west wall between two iv poles. The audio of the video is faint and comes from the rafters of the gallery. Centered on the north and south walls are classical vases that rest on stainless steel armatures positioned above bedpans that rest directly on the floor. Toward the east wall, off center and facing the tile floor is a ceramic hand on top of an unfinished wood pedestal. Between the hand and the tile floor hangs a parabolic speaker from which a woman’s voice can be heard telling personal stories.
Of Meat More Than Flesh
mixed media installation
2021
Various shots from different angles of the entire installation in the gallery at Margot Levin Graduate Studios. In the center of the room is an 8’ x 4’ raised tile floor made from unfired clay with ceramic objects adorning its surface. Live plants grow from cracks on top of eight of the tiles. There is a video of a male-figure gardening projected onto the west wall between two iv poles. The audio of the video is faint and comes from the rafters of the gallery. Centered on the north and south walls are classical vases that rest on stainless steel armatures positioned above bedpans that rest directly on the floor. Toward the east wall, off center and facing the tile floor is a ceramic hand on top of an unfinished wood pedestal. Between the hand and the tile floor hangs a parabolic speaker from which a woman’s voice can be heard telling personal stories.
Of Meat More Than Flesh
mixed media installation
2021
An anthropomorphic amphora hangs from the wall on a stainless steel mount positioned over a bedpan. There is a lid and holes on the neck of the vase. Its base comes to a point with a hole for drainage. From its ear hangs a snail-like charm on neon green Paracord. Inside, red worms eat organic waste collected from my garden and the UCLA graduate studios. Through the vermicomposting process a leachate is produced that collects in the bedpan bellow.
Invocation of Worms
ceramic, stainless steel, red worms, organic waste, bedpan, Paracord
2021
An anthropomorphic amphora hangs from the wall on a stainless steel mount positioned over a bedpan. There is a lid and holes on the neck of the vase. Its base comes to a point with a hole for drainage. From its ear hangs a snail-like charm on neon green Paracord. Inside, red worms eat organic waste collected from my garden and the UCLA graduate studios. Through the vermicomposting process a leachate is produced that collects in the bedpan bellow.
Invocation of Worms
ceramic, stainless steel, red worms, organic waste, bedpan, Paracord
2021
A ceramic wind chime composed of a nude figure with phallic bells attached to its appendages with neon green Paracord hangs from a stainless steel iv pole.
Apotropaic Threshold
ceramic, iv pole, Paracord
2021
A ceramic wind chime composed of a nude figure with phallic bells attached to its appendages with neon green Paracord hangs from a stainless steel iv pole.
Apotropaic Threshold
ceramic, iv pole, Paracord
2021
An anthropomorphic amphora hangs from the wall on a stainless steel mount positioned over a bedpan. There is a lid and holes on the neck of the vase. Its base comes to a point with a hole for drainage. From its ear hangs a snail-like charm on neon green Paracord. Inside, red worms eat organic waste collected from my garden and the UCLA graduate studios. Through the vermicomposting process a leachate is produced that collects in the bedpan bellow.
Invocation of Worms
ceramic, stainless steel, red worms, organic waste, bedpan, Paracord
2021
A ceramic wind chime composed of a nude figure with phallic bells attached to its appendages with neon green Paracord hangs from a stainless steel iv pole.
Apotropaic Threshold
ceramic, iv pole, Paracord
2021
Detail of ceramic bells with phallic clappers that are attached by neon green Paracord.
Detail, Apotropaic Threshold
ceramic, iv pole, Paracord
2021
A ceramic hand on top of a reclaimed wood pedestal. The hand is in the position of the Hand of the Benediction. On top of the the thumb is a small rooster. In the center of the palm there are two goat-like heads. Below that is an offering table with a baby chick, bowl, and acorn on its surface. The legs of the offering table turn into small outstretched hands that frame a dog laying within a hearth on the wrist. There are floral and vegetal adoring the hand as a well as a classical vase. A snail-like creature extends its neck from behind the pinky and ring fingers. On the side of the wrist is a cats head resting upon a pediment. The museum wax holding the hand to the pedestal is slightly visible.
It Hurts and Then It Does
ceramic, reclaimed wood pedestal, museum wax
2021
Detail of the back of a ceramic hand on top of a reclaimed wood pedestal. The hand is in the position of the Hand of the Benediction. On top of the thumb is a small rooster. A snail-like creature slides up the back of the hand and extends above the pinky and ring fingers. A snail-shell and butterflies adorn its body. On the ride side of the hand is a phallic staff made to look like an asparagus. In the center is a small lizard with roses below its tail as well as a pine-cone with two acorns on either side. To the left of the lizard is a cherub-like figure with a mermaids tail, a hen upon its head and a baby chick on its backside. Below the figure is a mouse head above a small phallic arch structure. The museum wax holding the hand to the pedestal is slightly visible.
Detail, It Hurts and Then It Does
ceramic, reclaimed wood pedestal, museum wax
2021
The Garden
video projection
1:04:58
2021
Heirloom
audio, parabolic speaker, 38:12
2021
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