Since the early nineties, Jil Weinstock has chosen rubber as the medium to which she at times has added garments, zippers, pins, or pearls. Rubber is an irresistible medium for Weinstock to work with as it can take many different qualities. Over the years the artist has discovered that different treatments affect the final result. Use it as a cast and it becomes ghostly. When an object is fully encased as an object, it takes on the role of preservative. Her three dimensional sculptures become wall pieces and when she places them on the floor, they pay tribute to Carl Andre.

Her most recent work is in no doubt about “nostalgia and the metamorphosis of the regular”, as Weinstock puts it. From early on, she has been inspired by her grandmother’s fashion sense and sewing talent. By using vintage clothing, Weinstock continues to amplify the nostalgia of her childhood. Grouping of rubber frames suggest a class photo, and small dresses with ruffles offer a festive atmosphere to an otherwise constricted presentation. For the first time she adds pigment to the medium making the rubber opaque and the shape becomes the focus not its contents. She has used its ambivalent appeal to beguile her viewer with questions about identity, beauty and memory. Conceptually, a feminist commentary is in evidence. Preserving memories often go hand in hand with preserving the look. In her newest series, the chase after permanent beauty is overcome by remembrance and the physical garment is left behind in favor of the materiality of the rubber. As Weinstock explains:” fashion promises to reveal, but it purposes is to conceal: this is the fundamental flaw in the logic of fashion”.

Weinstock received a joint MFA from University of California Berkeley and San Francisco Art
Institute in 1995. She lives in New York City and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts. This is her first solo show with LIMN Gallery.