Kenneth Zoran Curwood, Marginalia, 2019
This exhibition explores the intersections of aging, loss of relevance, and the inevitability of death in a society that often views aging as a process of becoming expired. In Gen Z slang, expired refers to someone past their prime or out of touch with current trends—a playful way to describe irrelevance. However, expired is also a clinical euphemism for death, framing this exhibition’s exploration of aging as both a societal and personal journey. By critically examining how aging is treated in culture, the exhibition reveals the tension between perceptions of decline and the possibilities of transformation as individuals confront the aging process and mortality.
R.W. is a ceramic artist based in New York City who spent years working as a geriatric social worker, providing support for an often overlooked population. Her classical urns and vessels, adorned with text and symbols of transformation, death, and regeneration, confront existential questions of mortality. Her piece, “I will soon be an antiquity. I hope to handle the passage of time intact. I am developing an interesting patina,” reflects on aging as a process of becoming both vulnerable and resilient. Another work, “I feel lost. Will I be found? Will I remain in one piece?” speaks to both the body of the artist, the vase itself, and the context they both exist.
K.C. is a multimedia artist based in New York City. His piece, “Sans Soleil,” is an intricate, large found leaf mounted on brass, its appearance evolving with time as it ages. His animation, “Marginalia,” in the style of early 20th-century cartoons, is filled with symbols of death, transformation, and rebirth in a beautifully choreographed loop. In “Alexa…When are the men coming to take me from my home?”—a wood and soldered glass analog sculpture referencing the Amazon Echo—K.C., who is not a digital native, playfully critiques ever-advancing technology in contemporary society, which reflects the dissonance between older generations and their relationship to rapidly evolving tech.
C.S. is a painter based in New York City, whose intimate portrait series of her wife glowing under a red light anti-aging and skin rejuvenation mask, titled “Beauty Is You,” reflects our cultural obsession with youth and beauty. Her subject appears saintly, bathed in a halo of light, yet masked in something both divine and absurd, exposing the lengths we go to preserve youth.
Expired is not only a reflection on mortality but a challenge to how society measures worth over time. It calls on viewers to rethink what it means to expire—whether in the context of aging, death, or societal disregard—and invites contemplation on the lasting beauty, resilience, and strength that persist through all stages of life and beyond.
R.W. is a ceramic artist based in New York City who spent years working as a geriatric social worker, providing support for an often overlooked population. Her classical urns and vessels, adorned with text and symbols of transformation, death, and regeneration, confront existential questions of mortality. Her piece, “I will soon be an antiquity. I hope to handle the passage of time intact. I am developing an interesting patina,” reflects on aging as a process of becoming both vulnerable and resilient. Another work, “I feel lost. Will I be found? Will I remain in one piece?” speaks to both the body of the artist, the vase itself, and the context they both exist.
K.C. is a multimedia artist based in New York City. His piece, “Sans Soleil,” is an intricate, large found leaf mounted on brass, its appearance evolving with time as it ages. His animation, “Marginalia,” in the style of early 20th-century cartoons, is filled with symbols of death, transformation, and rebirth in a beautifully choreographed loop. In “Alexa…When are the men coming to take me from my home?”—a wood and soldered glass analog sculpture referencing the Amazon Echo—K.C., who is not a digital native, playfully critiques ever-advancing technology in contemporary society, which reflects the dissonance between older generations and their relationship to rapidly evolving tech.
C.S. is a painter based in New York City, whose intimate portrait series of her wife glowing under a red light anti-aging and skin rejuvenation mask, titled “Beauty Is You,” reflects our cultural obsession with youth and beauty. Her subject appears saintly, bathed in a halo of light, yet masked in something both divine and absurd, exposing the lengths we go to preserve youth.
Expired is not only a reflection on mortality but a challenge to how society measures worth over time. It calls on viewers to rethink what it means to expire—whether in the context of aging, death, or societal disregard—and invites contemplation on the lasting beauty, resilience, and strength that persist through all stages of life and beyond.
Roxanne Wolanczyk is a New York City?based artist who creates text-based ceramic vessels exploring transformation, mortality, and consciousness through a feminist lens.
