Exhibition Walkthrough and Cactus Pop-Up

Compound will host a walkthrough of “Fay Ray: Puerpural” led by Fay Ray and Compound Executive Director January Parkos Arnall.

Compound will also feature a special popup by Mellowist, a Costa Mesa based plant shop with a focus on rare cacti and succulents. Light snacks and beverages will be provided by Union @ Compound.

Parking is available at 1326 Obispo Avenue and additional parking will be available at 3140 E. Anaheim Street. Ride sharing is strongly encouraged.

Puerperal, a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based artist Fay Ray, will be on view beginning February 15, 2025, and will feature Ray’s iconic two and three dimensional monochromatic sculptures as well as newly commissioned work throughout Compound's 14,000 square foot creative complex. The forms, sculptures, photographic collages, and architectural interventions will explore the material realities of the postpartum condition. In these works, Ray takes the period of the “fourth trimester” – a term used to refer to the period of postpartum repair and restoration after giving birth – as a provocation toward a new aesthetic.

Puerperal will debut a high-contrast monochromatic collage, as well as a new series of hand-built, porcelain, gestural, 12-inch figures of mothers and their children in an embrace commissioned by Compound. A third newly commissioned work will be also featured in Compound's courtyard entitled Cereus. The exhibition seeks to explore the materiality and visual language that represents the intimate experiences of motherhood, birthing, self-giving and caretaking.

Materials from the natural world and processes determined in large part by the realities of life with children, will also be featured. Through her work, Ray asks that everyone consider the possibilities of a postpartum aesthetic, and reflect broadly on the material manifestation of periods of change and transition in an evolving life.

Image Credit: Claudia Lucia