Jake Ziemann’s sculptures balance bodily shapes with utilitarian support, reimagining the gendered crafts of his rural upbringing through a queer lens. Fueled by themes of intimacy and sexuality, he combines painted ceramic forms with everyday objects and industrial materials. He imbues his sculptures with empathy through material dualities and formal gestures, blending notions of stability with vulnerability, the found with the handmade, and the abstract with the figurative. 

 

The colorful ceramic forms in Ziemann’s sculptures drip, slump, fold, and lean as they physically interact with their supports. These connections allude to a sense of longing for permanence and structure. Rooted in the process of building, Ziemann’s work reflects the labor involved in developing relationships with friends and lovers. Projecting a sense of prideful awkwardness, his sculptures act as both props and emotive bodies. Displayed together on handcrafted platforms, they create abstract scenes that exude individual and collective presences.