New Work by Phyllis Green
September 13 - October 25, 2025
Opening reception: September 13, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
We are pleased to announce “New Work by Phyllis Green.” The exhibition coincides with “Alex Heilbron: All Systems Fail.” Please join us for an artists’ reception on Saturday, September 13 from 2-5 pm. The two exhibitions will remain on view through October 25 at as-is.la
Veteran Los Angeles artist Phyllis Green identifies her recent series of modestly scaled, hand-painted ceramic sculptures—five of which are presented here in this small, sharply focused exhibition—as “self portraits.” These unsettlingly realistic and thus powerfully effective artworks are not to be confused with “selfies,” Green adamantly insists in an artist’s statement fittingly titled, “A Self Portrait is Not a Selfie,” a position she goes on to argue in greater detail:
The term “selfie” – coined in 2002 – captures a fleeting, smartphone image for instant online sharing. By contrast, artists have created self-portraits for centuries. Demanding time, reflection, and intention, the self-portrait can record the passage of years, chart technical growth, or transform identity through costume or disguise. Self-portraiture figured prominently in the feminist persona work of the ‘60s and ‘70s, offering an artist’s vision of how she wished to be seen.
The ceramic heads here, made over twelve months, are arranged on a single platform decontextualized from the body and lacking a form (like a plinth) that might anchor them in space or relate them to historical sculptural solutions. Because they are disembodied, they have a macabre quality that recallsprops from a horror movie. Although all depict the same subject in the same format, each self-portrait differs significantly from the others. Together, they show the self as fluid—always shifting—and invite reflection on our own changing identities.
Phyllis Green
August 2025