American, b. 1982, Torrance, California
Stephanie Bachiero’s sleek bronze and porcelain sculptures balance strength and fragility as they explore issues of frailty. Reflecting the influences of Finish Fetish art and Minimalism, her refined, undulating forms mask the complexity of their creation, which requires fastidious attention to the material’s temperamental qualities. Although the sculptures seem to effortlessly float in the air, they in fact require careful anchoring systems. Bachiero views her sculptures as a way of thinking and communicating what she often cannot speak since she suffered a severe head trauma in 2003 that impaired her cognitive and speech function. “Through sculpture I can restructure the life I lost intellectually,” she says. “I still have this isolation in my mind, but I can have conversations with the porcelain as it moves.”