In her latest solo exhibition GUMBALL—there is no space between body and soul, Vanessa German delivers a visceral experience that reimagines sculpture as a spiritual act of resistance, healing, and collective memory.
American artist, poet, and activist Vanessa German presents her second solo show at Kasmin Gallery in New York, reaffirming her commitment to art as a healing ritual and political gesture. Known for her use of found materials—crystals, porcelain, beads, and wood—German constructs monumental figures that function as altars, relics, and protectors in a fragmented world.
A Radical Aesthetic of Care
German’s sculptures are not passive art objects. They radiate presence, often evoking spiritual and ancestral forces. Through her materials and assemblage techniques, she constructs what she calls power figures, each embedded with emotional charge, personal history, and hope.
This form of making is deeply aligned with traditions of Black feminist thought, outsider art, and spiritual reclamation. Her work speaks to the growing relevance of art as a tool for healing in both private and communal contexts.
Contextualizing GUMBALL in Today’s Art Discourse
GUMBALL arrives at a time when the global art world is increasingly engaging with ideas of spirituality, wellness, and embodied knowledge. German’s unapologetically emotional and sacred approach stands in contrast to the often conceptual detachment of the art market, calling instead for vulnerability and transformation.
Art as Testimony and Ritual
In German’s vision, sculpture becomes a living entity. Each piece is an invocation—a prayer for justice, love, and collective repair. The exhibition becomes a charged space where viewers are invited not just to observe, but to feel, remember, and imagine.
