Helena Sarin dreamed that her GANs could transcend the screen and make their way into the physical world. Since 2021, that dream has come to fruition in the form of vases, whiskey cups, coffee mugs and now espresso cups.
At her home in New Jersey, Sarin is surrounded by functional objects of her own creation. They house bouquets of flowers, strain pasta, hold hummus and an array of charcuterie that she offers to her guests.
To live with this artist’s work is not just to walk past it on a mantel or a wall but to interact with it daily. And what better way to be present in the lives of her collectors than through the ritual of coffee?
Her espresso cups are called Espressoids, a name in keeping with the ceramic practice she has dubbed PotteryGAN. Adorned with dancing women and fish, they nod to the Mediterranean, and each one is paired with a unique saucer. They come in two sizes: ristretto, sized for a single espresso, and lungo, made for your morning cappuccino or flat white.
Like all of Sarin’s ceramics, Espressoids begin as GAN-generated images, which she models in Blender and 3D prints. The prints are used to make plaster molds for casting. After a first firing, Sarin hand-paints each piece with underglaze, drawing on imagery from her GANs, then fires it again under a transparent glaze for a glossy finish.
Espressoids are on sale for a limited time from September 1 through 8th.
A 10% discount is applied to sets of 4 or more.
*Please note this is a “generative release”, each cup and saucer is unique and will be assigned to the collector at random.
Measurements
Ristretto: 2x2” holds 2oz
Lungo: 2.5x2” holds 4oz
