Stephanie Deumer: A Diamond is Forever

Aug 12 - Sep 3, 2023

Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles is thrilled to present the premiere of Stephanie Deumer’s most recent video installation A Diamond is Forever, completed in 2023. Through a carefully calibrated and seamless montage of sourced videos culled from commercials, films, TV shows and other video sources, Deumer takes the viewer on a hypnotic journey that raises complex questions about the relationship of women and diamonds, among other topics. From a critical and theoretical perspective no stone is left unturned, and Deumer deftly manages to explore a wide range of issues subtly yet powerfully. The clips evoke an emotional rollercoaster of wonder, disgust, heartbreak, grief, laughter and hope. In the end, the sum of the parts is much greater than the whole, or in this case the isolated video fragments, and the work parses through the many complex and nuanced ways that women and marginalized communities have suffered in the name of diamonds, as well as the complex process of objectification and attendant subjugation.

In the artist’s own words: “A Diamond Is Forever explores the fractured and multitudinous enigma of ‘woman’ created by the diamond industry and mass media. Consisting entirely of found footage, including but not limited to commercials, films, and TV shows, the work condenses representations of the extraction, production, circulation, and marketing of precious stones. Diamonds figure literally in the work as well as figuratively, revealing how concepts of nature, commodity, colonialism, and patriarchy are used to both validate and scrutinize women in relation to diamonds.”

This work was generously supported in part by Prospect Art’s New Work: Focus on LA grant and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.

Stephanie Deumer (b.1989, Oakville, Ontario, Canada) is a visual artist currently living and working in Los Angeles, California. Her films and multi-media installations highlight interrelations between different kinds of reproduction—including biological, visual, mechanical, and social. More particularly, the exploration of feminine constructs is a crucial through-line in Deumer’s practice. Complexities of female identity formation figure prominently, specifically in relation to language, media, science, and technology. Deumer holds a BA from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts. She was a fellow at the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York from 2018-2019, and has been awarded grants from Canada Arts Council, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and Bar-Fund LA. Her work has been shown internationally in Canada, the United States, the UK, Ecuador, and Saudi Arabia.
@stephaniedeumer