After 'The Girl Made of Butter'

Marlowe Lowe

Brittany Søndberg

Stephanie Woods

Lu Xu

Curated by Mariam Stephan, with provocations from Janine Antoni

Southfirst is proud to present “After ‘The Girl Made of Butter’” a show featuring the work of four recent graduates of the University of North Carolina Greensboro MFA program. These four female sculptors have chosen to work with artist Janine Antoni on the exhibition, which developed around a story of Antoni’s choosing—a legend from her childhood in Freeport, Bahamas, about a girl made of butter— as well as a group text proposed by Antoni, Luce Irigaray’s, Elemental Passions. The show is part exploration of new sculpture, part feminist reading group.

“How does one explore the value of being a woman? What does it mean to be truly situated and valued – first by ourselves? These questions are posited in Luce Irigaray’s, Elemental Passions through various meditations, all grounded within the body of a woman looking inward and reaching outward. Artist Janine Antoni selected these writings as provocations for a group exhibition of four emerging sculptors; Lu Xu, Stephanie Woods, Brittany Søndberg and Marlowe Lowe.”

—Mariam Stephan

Mariam Aziza Stephan is an associate professor in the University of North Carolina, Greensboro MFA program.