#ilovedumplings | Plate Two

This work is a part of Saule Dyussenbina's ongoing series #ilovedumplings. 

Artist’s statement:  We are what we eat. The series began with a question: “Why are there no dumplings left?” Or perhaps with a memory. In the 1990s, I travelled from Kazakhstan to Moscow with my art school classmates for museum practice. After one of our museum visits, we went to eat at a dumpling café. We stood in line, and one of my classmates, a Kazakh student speaking Russian with a noticeable accent, asked exactly that question. I remember feeling a sharp sense of embarrassment at his mistake and the way he spoke.

Looking back now, I understand what kind of “dumplings” we all were. Those of us who had learned to feel ashamed of imperfect Russian, of an accent, and, by extension, of our own culture. My “dumplings” take on different social types and attitudes, from xenophobes and neophobes to housewives and other everyday characters. Imperfect, ridiculous and sometimes funny, they are trying to hold relevant conversations in difficult times. 

Saule Dyussenbina is a multimedia artist living and working in Almaty (Kazakhstan), whose conceptually layered, often ironic work moves between Kazakh identity, feminism, history and design. Working across painting, print, video, performance and object-making, she merges traditional Kazakh ornament with personal history and global references. 

Her work has been shown at the 24th Biennale of Sydney, the Armory Show in New York, and the Dallas Art Fair, and is held in the collections of LACMA, the KADIST Art Foundation in Paris, and the A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts in Almaty.

Limited edition for SovaLova LA

Series: #ilovedumplings 

Size: 14 inches

Material: Decal on Porcelain