House of Strawberries (Set of 10)

The strawberries in this site-specific installation work by Shanghai-based artist Juju Wang serve as a representation of a central motif for the way that we irrevocably have influenced our surrounding environment and impacted our planet. This is also an exploration into the effects of this on the core of our development, containing symbols of both motherhood and childhood in terms of the ‘self’, as well as the topics of cultural  identification,  belonging  and  the  effects of globalization. These complex concepts are juxtaposed with the visual simplicity of the  black and white minimalist palette and space.

Within the work also lies a personal and intimate message that is not immediately noticeable; Being the favorite fruit of the artist’s daughter, it references youth and infancy, the simple joys of life, the ease of picking from a multitude of options just by following your heart instead of getting lost in the multitude of variables and possible outcomes. At the same time, it is a statement of love from a caring mother looking after her child, in the most elementary and understandable manner, born out of intuition, rather than rationality. 

The work also conveys an underlying message of a mother’s struggles to protect her child’s health and safety in relation to the state of fresh produce  and  its  often  ambiguous  sources.  The  irregular  shapes  of  the  porcelain  pieces  recall  an  era  where  food  wasn’t  aesthetically-standardized and ‘perfect’, compared to present-day situations where harmful pesticides and genetically modified plants are the norms. The artist thus also questions the impact that our human species has over the planet and how future generations will never see, taste or feel the world as we know it today. 

Diameter of 6 -10cm per strawberry. All sizes vary.
Sold as a set of 10 strawberries.