Eat What’s on Your Plate #1 (Silence = Death), 2025

Alex Hodge   New & remarkable Artists

This ceramic sculpture blends traditional craft with urgent social commentary. A deep blue floral lace pattern covers the surface. This intricate decoration evokes timeless dolls and domesticity. Over this delicate backdrop, a stark message emerges. Bold letters spell out a plea against apathy. The text is rendered in a striking red and black plaid. This clashing visual language disrupts the serenity of the plate. It transforms a functional object into a vehicle for protest. The contrast highlights the tension between silence and action. 
The ceramicist uses a sophisticated approach to feminist inquiry. By utilizing the medium of porcelain, the piece explores the fragility of the human condition. The juxtaposition of the ornate pattern and the blunt typography creates a powerful emotional resonance. This artwork challenges the viewer to confront uncomfortable truths within a familiar household setting. Every curve of the clay supports a narrative of strength and vulnerability. The composition is anchored by the rhythmic repetition of the floral motifs. The final result is a provocative statement on memory and political urgency.

(Silence = Death) This piece recalls a specific protest slogan coined by the Silence=Death Project, which was a coalition of six people working to raise awareness around the AIDS epidemic in the Reagan era. It was later adopted by the organization ACT UP, as a way to encourage people to take action to support the LGBT community and call on leaders to change policy surrounding the disease. The Eat What's on Your Plate series is comprised of wall plates that draw on the history of blue and white pottery as symbols of wealth, elitism and consumerism. The plates beckon the viewer with brash red text reminiscent of Barbara Kruger's work. The title phrase is a play on words in several capacities, directing the audience to deal with what is at hand, while simultaneously admonishing the act of taking from others. They are all hand built using the slab method, and utilize underglaze painting, carving and transfers. Alex Hodge is an artist-ceramist primarily interested in creating work that juxtaposes the canon of Western art with the lived experiences of contemporary women. As a queer woman growing up in the rural south, she became familiar with the feeling of being on the periphery, spending her youth wandering the woods, collecting material for small sculptures and creating stories for herself. 

Hand-built plate with sgraffito. From the Blurb series