“Untitled (Chandelier) (1994) hangs unilluminated from the ceiling. As an object, the black chandelier activates many references: grandiose displays of wealth, the age of rococo from which is seems to date, and ultimately, implications of termination and finality. But Silverthorne has made her chandelier in a very particular material, and the black resin in which the piece is cast, and the black rubber that the attendant cords and outlets and electrical accoutrements are cast speak volumes—more than simply the symbolism of a snuffed candle or dead light bulb.”

“On the other side of the gallery, a selection of much more modest objects, in cast black rubber, draw on the theme of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. These pieces—books, framed quotes from Shelley’s text, and banal objects such as fire extinguishers and ventilation grilles—draw a connection between the goals of the sculptor and the ill-conceived dreams of Victor Frankenstein.”

“In glowing contradistinction to the darkened chandelier is a glowing book propped open on a plinth; Frankenstein (2019). In this book, published a century before Silverthorne’s sculpture, Silverthorne has meticulously copied the text in a neat and expressive script. Like bioluminescent organisms on a dark beach, the text, which is largely readable, represents much more than merely a reference to Shelley’s book.”

“In a clever visual pun, curator Ken Tan has placed the lifeless Exit sign catty-corner and in close proximity to the bright red health-and-safety mandated EXIT sign. We can almost hear the rubber contraption cursing its maker under its breath.”

Read the full review on The Brooklyn Rail

View work for the exhibition book design