Kristen Morgin
Jeep Comics
Kristen Morgin’s Jeep Comics is based on the second of only two issues that RB Leffingwell and Company published in 1944–45. Though largely unknown, their protagonists, Jeep and Peep, embody the ethos of “Golden Age” comic books in which magically empowered heroes triumph over evils to boost patriotic enthusiasm.
Kristen Morgin works with clay to create objects that resemble relics from past eras. Drawing on 1940s and 1950s American pop culture, her themes range from patriotic comic super heroes, childhood toys, cartoon books, to more intimate daily items, such as teaspoons or cups. Although they appear to be highly realistic in terms of scale, shape, and texture, these objects are layered with narrative implicit in their materiality. Seemingly meant to preserve and memorialize the past, these recreations of unfired clay are equally tenuous and fragile.