Stephanie Lane Gage

she/her

MFA1 – School of Art – Graphic Design

Referencing the communalist ritual of the campfire, this sculpture pairs each of its facets with a different story about the struggle towards utopia. The hand revealing a treasure references the failed “utopian” grift of the Zzyzyx Mineral Springs, the hand striking a match represents the attempted socialist utopia of the 1913 Llano del Rio community, the kneeling motion references Ursula K. LeGuin’s vision in “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, and the dropping of the curtain—NK Jemisin’s response to LeGuin in her story, “The Ones Who Stay and Fight”.