Janine Antoni sanding a milagros-inspired sculpture in her Brooklyn, New York studio. Production still from the series Exclusive. © Art21, Inc. 2014. Cinematography: Rafael Salazar
“Making any of my work is a form of healing. In making I can somehow locate myself in relationship to others and my environment.” —Janine Antoni
In today’s Exclusive, filmed in 2013, Janine Antoni discusses the sculptures in her solo exhibition Within at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Antoni explains how this body of work was inspired by small religious votive charms called milagros (“miracles”), which often take the shape of an ailing area of the body, such as a limb or organ. For her sculptures, Antoni grafted together resin body parts—a hand clasping a coccyx, for instance—to explore the meanings created by two impossible juxtapositions. Antoni is shown at work in her Brooklyn, New York studio.
Exclusive is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; 21c Museum Hotel, and by individual contributors.