The artist Jeff Larson develops an interdisciplinary practice that brings together photography, printmaking, and ceramics to address pressing contemporary social issues. His recent work reflects a shift from the photographic image toward three-dimensional structures, without abandoning the visual language of photography, but rather integrating it into an expanded system where image and material converge.
A central axis of his production engages collective memory and social trauma, particularly in relation to mass shootings in the United States. In one of his most significant works, Larson constructs a memorial piece composed of 49 ceramic bottles, each distinct in form and scale, referencing the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. This formal strategy introduces a reading in which the singularity of each element reflects the individuality of the lives lost, resisting any form of symbolic homogenization.
Rather than conceiving these works as closed objects, the artist explores their potential as open and even interactive structures. The possibility that the audience may alter the arrangement—or even contribute to its fragility—becomes part of the work’s meaning, underscoring the precariousness of memory and the ways in which collective mourning is constructed and transformed over time.
In parallel, Larson continues to develop a body of work that combines silkscreen, photography, and ceramics, exploring new formal configurations through an approach akin to still life, where image and object overlap in layered readings. This hybridization reflects not only a technical evolution but also a need to expand the limits of the medium in order to address content of significant emotional and political weight.
Within this context, the recent visit by a delegation from the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas to the studios at the University of Miami provided a direct encounter with his process. During the tour led by professor Carlos Enrique Prado, the museum’s representatives engaged with both works in progress and the conceptual frameworks underpinning them, recognizing in Larson’s practice a capacity to articulate multiple languages around urgent contemporary concerns. His inclusion within this framework underscores MoCA-Americas’ commitment to sustained engagement with artists whose work demonstrates conceptual rigor and relevance within the current cultural landscape.
