Untitled 

Here we see an undated, untitled ceramic piece by Christian Royal, which bears a striking resemblance to a delicate lace doily. Royal, born in 1993, creates a dialogue between craft and fine art. This piece invites us to consider the historical connotations of doilies, traditionally made by women as domestic markers of care and skill. These handcrafted items have often been associated with femininity and domestic labor. Royal recontextualizes this traditional form by rendering it in a more permanent medium, transforming the ephemeral nature of lace into a lasting object. The choice of ceramics, a medium with its own historical associations with craft, elevates the doily from a purely functional object to a piece worthy of artistic consideration. Through this unexpected juxtaposition, Royal’s work encourages reflection on the value we assign to different forms of labor and the ways in which gender and class intersect with artistic expression. The piece asks us to reconsider our relationship to the handmade and the often-overlooked beauty of everyday objects.