Simone Nemes | RISD Museum Publications

RISD Grad Show 2024

Grad Show 2024

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Simone Nemes

Welcome Home: An Ode to Toys

I believe that toys are a mirror to our soul. When we were kids, toys helped us to process internal and external conflict through play. As adults, I propose that toys might help soothe, distract, or even transport us back to a state where we once felt free.

Images

/Photograph%20of%20an%20installation%20of%20a%20fantasy%20bedroom.%20%20There%20is%20a%20bed%20covered%20with%20toys%2C%20a%20TV%20in%20the%20corner%20playing%20a%20reel%20of%20chaotic%20videos%2C%20and%20sculpture%20of%20a%20duck/horse%20chimera.%20%20

/Detail%20shot%20of%20a%20beautiful%20ugly%20creature%20inside%20of%20a%20cage.

/A%20fluffy%20yellow%20chicken%20horse%20chimera%20with%20glowing%20red%20eyes.

/Photograph%20of%20a%20fantasy%20window%20portal.%20%20The%20vibe%20is%20beautiful%20and%20unsettling.

/Photograph%20of%20a%20fantasy%20window%20portal.%20%20The%20vibe%20is%20beautiful%20and%20unsettling.%20

/Detail%20photograph%20of%20toys%2C%20ranging%20from%20cute%20to%20sad%20to%20unsettling.

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Photograph of an installation of a fantasy bedroom. There is a bed covered with toys, a TV in the corner playing a reel of chaotic videos, and sculpture of a duck/horse chimera.

Welcome Home, (Mixed media installation)
16' x 16'
Materials: Everything

Welcome Home' is an installation that encapsulates the entirety of work that I've created at RISD. What started as experimental toy making has grown into full-on world building. The room I've created is a backdrop in which these toys exist.

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Bed Detail
36" x 63"
Mixed Media

Detail shot of toys on a bed. All of these toys are chained to the bed- a signifier of bondage and the ways we hold ourselves down. "

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Detail shot of a beautiful ugly creature inside of a cage.

Precious
14" x 20"
Resin, lint, glitter, clay, flexible wire, acrylic, plastic, polyester.

Precious is a toy on the edge of ugly and cute. She lives inside of a cage, prisoner of her owner. She is vulnerable and begging to be picked up. Inside of precious is a wire armature and she can be posed.

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A fluffy yellow chicken horse chimera with glowing red eyes.

This Work Has Legs (Murder Chicken)
20" x 14"
welded steel armature, ceramic, casted bronze, cardboard, glue, polyester, golf balls, LED, sateen.

I utilized a wide variety of skills- welding the body form; casting feet out of bronze; using chipboard and fabric remnants to build a body shape; utilizing LED elements to create light-up eyes; patterning a cape; and sculpting a ceramic beak.

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Photograph of a fantasy window portal. The vibe is beautiful and unsettling.

Fantasy Window (A Portal)
Digitally printed silk organza, salvaged vintage window, styrofoam, caulking, scrap metal, toys, spray paint, sawdust, acrylic, matches, cardboard, Brae-poxy, printed vinyl, plywood.

The window implies that is an outside world extending beyond this one, within the same realm of oddness. I’ve framed the window by a textile titled ‘Firestarter.’ This pattern is a nod to the boredom and resulting delinquency I experienced as a teenager growing up in the suburbs of Maryland.

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Fantasy Window (detail)

Detail shot of scenery inside of the window. There are hills mde to look like trash and a sleepy flower friend looking back at you.

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Detail photograph of toys, ranging from cute to sad to unsettling.

3 Friends (plushies)
various sizes
mixed media

These toys are where all of it began. I make my patterns simply, based on intuition. I am always thinking about dread, depression, colored through the lens of sexuality and chaos.

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