Celeste Tooth- Portfolio

Celeste Tooth (“Tooth”) Class of ’24

Interdisciplinary Sculpture Major; Minors in Illustration and Gender Studies

Celeste Tooth is a 23 year old multimedia artist who splits their time between Los Angeles and Baltimore. They are currently pursuing a BFA at Maryland Institute College of Art– they are studying a major in interdisciplinary sculpture as well as minors in gender studies and illustration.

Their work exists at the intersection of explorations of disability justice and queer gender/lesbian sexuality– and the correlating trauma/oppression/systems of power. Tooth draws inspiration from their own life while frequently including commentary on current socio-political issues primarily within the United States. As an immunocompromised individual, Tooth has recently developed a body of work in response to the covid-19 pandemic. Many of these pieces fit into their larger ongoing collection titled The Body Out of Motion– a project that chronicles their lived experience of disability over the last two decades. 

They believe that artwork is a powerful vehicle for change and are frequently involved in advocacy efforts– most recently, they completed the first half of their fellowship with Mid-Atlantic Campus Compact. In the same vein, they are dedicated to amplifying the voices of marginalized artists and are currently curating for Intrinsic: an Exhibit Celebrating Disabled Artists which will be displayed at MICA’s Office of Culture and Identity in 2023. Additionally, they are passionate about young(er) artists accessing quality art education and are scheduled to begin their third year of assisting in teaching at their university’s summer pre-college program.

---

Skill Building

A series of technical exercises build and demonstrate skills in Rhino, laser cutting, 3D printing, and CNC routing.

---

---

Project I: Nerves Under (a) Surface

This piece delves into my experiences living with lipomyelomeningocele / tethered cord– and the three neurosurgeries I have had. I structured the piece to center a vertebrae with net-like structures representing nerves tendrilling out. The light represents the spinal cord itself– and it reflects through the nervous system built around the spinal structure. In my case, I have many damaged/dysfunctional nerves that my spinal cord essentially does not communicate with or “reach.” I wanted to represent this via the scope of the small light that doesn’t quite extend to all areas of the piece.

---

---

Project II: A Catastrophic Loss (Did You Even Notice)

. 2023. Plywood, Polylactic acid (3d print), acrylic sheet, empty Evusheld vials, and danish oil. 28” x 29” x 1”

Evusheld was a set of injections that were given to moderately to severely immunecompromised individuals to protect them from covid-19. The recklessness and carelessness of low risk individuals mutated the virus in a way that caused the medication to become ineffective– and it was subsequently pulled by the FDA. This has made my life –and the lives of my close friends– exponentially more stressful. This piece is a discussion of the experience of having my safety eroded further and further.

—

---

---

Project III:

—

---

---

Process

–

---

Research

More Information

additional information and links