AMP nanc 05

Von Coffin

#60, PB & J, Edition 2/2, 2023

Cast resin, sintra, acrylic paint, magnets

14 x 3 x 3 inches

Presented by FOSTER/WHITE GALLERY


Von Coffin’s artworks draw inspiration from food design, especially color and packaging. Each sconce consists of an outer shell made of cast resin and an interchangeable, rectangular rod mounted inside with magnets. The linear, architectural forms convey a sense of functionality that remains elusive, just beyond the familiar. Coffin’s artwork com- bines new materials in new ways, hinting at the overlap between fine art, design, culture, and aesthetic experience.

Using very thin layers of acrylic paint, Coffin allows the liquid to pool on the surface. When dry, the result leaves a gradation of color from the center to the edges. Since the colors are mixed to imitate con- temporary food products, especially candies like Skittles, Jelly Belly
Jelly Beans, Sprees and M&Ms, our booth includes a table of candy to offer a complete sensory experience, so that visitors can smell, taste, and touch the candy while they are viewing the artwork.

Coffin’s work explores what makes food products desirable, what makes them fun, and how these subtle nuances play out in social spaces like parties, ceremonies, and everyday life. As Coffin themselves explain, “Jelly Belly is already a translation of a food into flavor and imagery, and I am translating it further to an object.”

Bio: Von Coffin (b. 1983 Kirkland, WA) lives on their family’s farm in Redmond, Washington. Coffin received their MFA in Painting and Print- making from Yale University (2016) and BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2007). Their practice is multidisciplinary, most recently focused on sculpture and food service. Coffin identifies as trans, non-binary, and as a person living with bipolar disorder. Their work is often a rendering of one thing into another, or a combination of two things that are seemingly disparate. Their goal is not to represent something specific, but to emphasize the undefinable. For example, what does it mean for something to have a yellow color and taste that “is” lemon or banana, but not be a lemon or banana?