Playing with Nuri Koerfer’s provocative sculptures

• PIN

Nuri Koerfer, Duck Down

What: A glossy, brightly colored chimera of animals watching in anticipation of visitors is the signature motif of Nuri Koerfer’s work. Her social sculptures articulate ideas around language through semantic structures that give life to the symbols, gestures and materials she handles. This physical gesture is equivalent to anything that could be written or spoken in terms of her intentions, so she uses the animal motif to wordlessly render a point of connection with the viewers. Offering a place to sit, lie down and reflect within her work is an absolute gesture of manifesting the vulnerable as well as the emotional element.

In her current exhibition Duck Down at the Melas Martinos Gallery, the artist commands and warns us to seek protection and take refuge, away from imminent danger. The beasts of burden assemble. The quacks and hee-haws quiet down. A couple of crocs masticate in the corner. Patiently, they stare right back.