Anicka Yi Vinegar Fissure, 2024

The sculpture Vinegar Fissure has a pronounced figurative quality. At-once tactile and abject, the work emphasizes materiality and technique.

Continuing her earlier use of tempura-fried flowers as a medium, Vinegar Fissure belongs to Yi’s Biofouled Sculptures. The term “biofouling” describes the formation of a biofilm, a complex community of microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals, on a wet surface, resulting in mechanical damage or other malfunction. In this way, the “biofouled” sculptures represent the natural world grafting itself onto anthropogenic structures and systems, sabotaging human aspirations towards lab-like cleanliness and industrial functionality. The Biofouled Sculptures also include a network of glass vessels and aquarium tubing, channeling mysterious liquids and reminiscent of intestines and internal organs.