This ceramic sculpture by Sydnie Jimenez stands more than four feet tall. The figure’s suspicious posture and sardonic glare are juxtaposed by clown makeup. Jimenez’s work explores the connections between her identity and experiences as a biracial woman, and social and aesthetic narratives connected with the history of her medium. The figures Jimenez creates inhabit the same psychological and social space as her. Their style and fashion is rooted in rap, metal, and punk music, while their skin color is the color of unglazed clay. They represent the people in her own life, her friends and fellow artists, who exist on the fringes of pop culture. The posture of the figures tends to be defensive, and the expressions on their faces project anger and frustration. These outward gestures relate to the personal experiences Jimenez has had throughout her life navigating public spaces within an America dominated by sexist and white supremacist preconceptions. “That’s how I have to hold myself in pubic spaces,” Jimenez says. “You have to have a stink face so people don’t approach you. It’s being protective. It’s a defense mechanism.”