The biomorphic forms you see in Stella Bronson's Enigma aren't sea anemones or discarded industrial material. Rather, the curvy and soft forms that lie on the gallery's concrete floors are mattress toppers that the recent Cornish grad sourced from Craiglist and contorted into dynamic, soft sculptures that mimic our own imperfect bodies.

Decontextualized from their bedroom context, these mattress toppers look like a spiky sea sponge, or a deflated tire, or a kind of floppy fragment of a textured ceramic vase. But without the firm spine of the bed, the toppers take on a strangely vulnerable shape, and they possess a shy inwardness. Looking at them, I can't stop myself from assessing their supportive quality (my bet is on the yellow one—it looks inviting). Included in the show are peachy, amoeba-like sculptures that are adorned with hair and composed of fabric and latex, a material that has "both the tactical and textural appeal to the skin," in Bronson's view. Enigma plays with your perception in a way that's refreshingly clever. And, perhaps, it'll get you looking at your mattress a little differently. 


Stella Bronson's Enigma at Method Gallery is open on Fridays from 12-4 pm by appointment only and Saturday from 12-4pm with no appointment necessary.