Yolk

Working with glassblower Jonathan Christie, Kiki Smith produced an edition of 150 of these yellow glass orbs, selling them individually and in groups of three. Yolk is a multiple: a typically small-scale, three-dimensional work reproduced and distributed like a fine art print or artist’s book. As is the case for many multiples, the individual iterations of Yolk are not all precisely the same; these three examples vary in color, uniformity of hue, and size, betraying their hand-crafted quality. Difference becomes apparent through repetition, which is true not just for Smith’s glass yolks, but for all things in nature, where individuality marks every member of a species despite shared characteristics.

Indeed, Yolk and its sister multiple, Egg, produced a year later, relate strongly to Smith’s interests in the body and bodily fluids, and in images of women, animals, and mothering. Because yolks bear nutrients and supply food for a developing embryo, they are invested with a sense of potentiality and nurturing. Smith sees in these tiny building blocks of nature a much grander truth: “I always think the whole history of the world is in your body.”