Isabelle Frances McGuire
Frankenstein’s Monster, 2025
Black Porcelain
6.5 in x 2.5 in x 1 in (each piece varies slightly)
This limited-edition porcelain figurine brings to life the underworld monster from Isabelle Frances McGuire’s exhibition, Year Zero, where it starred in a video and leapt out of the shadows on the poster. Originally based on anonymous medical scans made available for public use, this eerie figure embodies McGuire’s unique approach to translating digital 3D models into tangible material forms, often transforming them in the process. This desk-sized Frankenstein’s monster has undergone yet another kind of transformation as McGuire trades the original synthetic materials for artisanal ceramics methods that carry the artist’s touch more openly. Each hand-cast and hand-glazed figure stands approximately 6.5 inches tall and features a distinctive white crackle glaze that shimmers with pink and green hues against a black porcelain body. Because the artist individually crafts each piece, no two are exactly alike. The edition consists of three unique works, plus one artist’s proof, marking McGuire’s first public presentation of ceramic work after years of practice.
ISABELLE FRANCES MCGUIRE (b. 1994, Austin, Texas) lives and works in Chicago. Selected solo and two person presentations include What Pipeline (Detroit, MI), King’s Leap (New York, NY), Scherben (Berlin, DE), Mickey (Chicago, IL), Good Weather at Et al. (San Francisco, CA), From the Desk of Lucy Bull (Los Angeles, CA), and Prairie (Chicago, IL). Recent group shows include High Art & Sister (Seoul, KR), Artists Space (New York, NY), Petzel Gallery (New York, NY), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (Chicago, IL), Bel Ami (Los Angeles, CA), shore (Vienna, AT), M. LeBlanc (Chicago, IL), In Lieu (Los Angeles, CA), and Alyssa Davis Gallery (New York, NY).
