Lindsay Merrill American, b. 1987

Lindsay Merrill lives and works in Philadelphia and West Virginia. She received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MSW from the University of Denver. Recent exhibitions include Wax Moon Faces at Scroll in New York City and Another Night at Smart Objects in Los Angeles.

Merrill’s most recent paintings depict Christmas lawn ornaments that were popularized in the United States during the mid-20th century. These objects represent a translation of old world religious symbols into 20th century American materials (plastic) and iconography that converts saints and martyrs into smiling, three-dimensional cartoons. Their friendly shapes, which often betray the violence of their origin stories, appease American tastes, and their scale and materials point to broader American economic aspirations (namely, having a suburban home and lawn spacious enough to host the figures in the first place). Today, these decorations look particularly dated, kitschy, and even eerie, highlighting a growing disconnect between neoliberal promises of the latter half of the previous century and a current political climate that is rife with uncertainty and growing peril. And yet, the figures themselves are capable of emitting light, illuminating their own scars and sun-bleached features with their interior glow. They are the quiet witnesses to the changing realities of American life even as they seem to forecast impending collapse.