Pomegranate Carved In The Round

Guided by beloved objects from anthropological collections, technical journals, and fashion archives, Pomegranate Carved in the Round is an exercise in the graceful trickery of ornamentation. Isidore’s presentation finds its namesake in an Assyirian carved ivory pomegranate—an enduring symbol of fertility—found in a well in the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Isidore’s sculptures are deeply personal vessels—altars, offerings, and love charms—of seductively harsh beauty, fecudity, and decay. Weaving complex symbolic methods of medieval and Victorian furniture ornamentation and generational craft, Isidore’s sculptures are dedicated to secret systems of knowledge and spell casting spoken through adornment. They are inspired by a beauty that is as much instructive as it is semantic. This multi-layered and intricate beauty finds its way into Isidore’s work through friend’s teeth, coyote bone, damiana, hydrangea, hyssop, nettle, ashwagandha, and rose bud embedded in poplar, ash, and plywood. Braided hair becomes a spine, a tail, a whip and antique lace signals mourning veils, confessional booths, and lingerie. In an echo of Paul B. Preciado’s psychosexual reading of furniture and interiors in Pornotopia, each work is finished in a homemade tung oil brew of herbs, roots, and extracts known for enhancing fertility and seduction. Works including custom metal fabrication were made in collaboration with Imogen Brent.