Elegant parlor room inside Vizcaya with antique furniture, ornate gilded walls, a large central wooden table with a ceramic sculpture featuring botanical, coral, and floral motifs with a glass dome, wooden chairs, and a candelabra.

“Pastiche” at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
(2024-2025)

In 2024, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens presented the latest exhibition through its Contemporary Arts Program (CAP) entitled Pastiche by Miami-based artist Lauren Shapiro. The exhibition blends architecture, history and nature while paying homage to Paul Chalfin (1874 – 1959), the visionary Artistic Director behind Vizcaya’s design and decoration, whose 150th anniversary we celebrate this year.

Shapiro’s site-specific commission takes visitors on a journey across different times and spaces.

Pastiche activates three distinct decorated spaces in the Main House: the Enclosed Loggia, Reception Room, and Breakfast Room. Each space features Shapiro’s sculptures designed to resonate with its historical context, functionality, and aesthetic.

“My approach to making objects combines digital fabrication technologies with traditional ceramic techniques,” says Shapiro. “The resulting artworks not only highlight each room’s distinctive characteristics but also feature a combination of forms from the natural world with Vizcaya’s design elements, blending architectural and organic shapes.”

Shapiro’s work combines ceramic, glass and technology, a visual language that evokes the past while resonating with the present. Pastiche is a unique opportunity to experience the timeless role of ceramics and the complex interplay between human culture and the natural world within the historic setting of Vizcaya.

By weaving in the natural surroundings, she creates works that blend classical motifs with native flora, bringing the outside in. The resulting ceramic, glass and technology-infused vessels create a visual language that evokes the past while resonating with the present– a perfect alignment with Vizcaya’s mission.

A purple ceramic sculpture with intricate carvings and a spherical element on top, displayed on a bright green stand in front of a painted mural of classical architecture.
A purple ceramic sculpture with intricate carvings and a spherical element on top, displayed on a bright green stand in front of a painted mural of classical architecture.
Interior of a room with two ornate wooden lampshades, a decorative wooden table, and a large mural of a sailing ship on the wall. Three deep blue-purple ceramic vessels are set on top of the table.
Three sculptural ceramic vessels featuring botanical, marine, and coral motifs, predominantly in dark blue placed on a decorative tray in front of a maritime painting of ships at sea.
Historical interior of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens with ornate architectural details, a large arched doorway leading to an outdoor courtyard with palm trees, and ceramic sculptures by Lauren Shapiro.
Elegant parlor room inside Vizcaya with antique furniture, ornate gilded walls, a large central wooden table with a ceramic sculpture featuring botanical, coral, and floral motifs with a glass dome, wooden chairs, and a candelabra.
A pink and red ceramic sculpture featuring botanical, coral, and floral motifs with a glass dome and a projection within.