(de)composed  features small sculptures depicting decomposing matter created through the appreciative lens of a disabled artist.

Artist Statement
Often when something has “gone bad,” it gives rise to something new, but it can be hard to appreciate new growth in the shadow of our disappointment. I like the idea of spending hours meticulously crafting something that most people think of as ruined. Even my materials are an exercise in reevaluating the underappreciated: my primary medium is generally dismissed as “for kids.”

This work reflects my own journey to reframe my life as a disabled person. I spent a decade only seeing the ways my life hadn’t turned out how I had expected, and seeing those discrepancies as failures. It has only been by readjusting my lens that I have learned to appreciate the life I do have. I am finally allowing myself to be happy.

I believe this theme also taps into a larger experience that is particularly strong right now. The past 2+ years of pandemic have derailed what many people expected from their lives. We have all had to reframe our expectations and our sources of joy. I hope this work can reflect those experiences, too, and help encourage the (sometimes painful) growth it takes to make that shift.

The work in (de)composed was made with a self-imposed rule that every element had to be created. Every rock, popsicle stick, and sweaty slice of cheese is painstakingly sculpted and detailed by hand. This mandate pushed me to learn new ways of looking at familiar objects, as well as new ways of using a familiar material.

Judith Klausner is a Somerville, MA artist with a love for small, intricate, and overlooked things. She received her degree in Studio Art from Wesleyan University in 2007 after constructing her thesis primarily out of insects, and has since continued to search the details of her surroundings for inspiration. Her experience of invisible disability and chronic pain play an integral role in how she views the world and creates art. Her work has been featured in Harper’s magazine, Reader’s Digest, the Huffington Post and NPR, and exhibited in venues internationally including the Susquehanna Art Museum, Museum of Natural History, RI, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, and the Boston Children’s Museum. Judith enjoys playing with her food, both recreationally and professionally.

On exhibit at Windmill Library from April 25 through July 3, 2023