Elyse Pignolet’s “You Should Calm Down” at Track 16 is a wry call-out of the misogynistic and patriarchal culture in the U.S. and the barrage of passive-aggressive phrases that women in our society frequently hear. It’s a collection of works that are distinctly of the moment, eliciting both disgust and amusement. The collection is comprised of ceramic tiles, plates, cups and vases along with paintings of ceramics, all decorated in the classic Delftware style. Interwoven throughout the decorative blue and white elements are phrases taken from commonly uttered patriarchal truisms used to belittle women and specific quotes of women speaking up against sexual assault and men who have been accused of it.

It’s somewhat ironic that Pignolet uses a medium known for domesticity and femininity to subvert the status quo and deliver a distinctly feminist message. From a distance, the works appear well-balanced, with classic and tasteful design, and don’t reveal their deeper messages until closer inspection. The pieces have a delicate quality, each one uniquely decorated with flowers, plants and borders at odds with the socio-politically charged text, hence giving it ironic emphasis.

Elyse Pignolet, What Were You Wearing, 2019, courtesy Track 16

Some of the texts are lifted from specific circumstances—Donald Trump’s offhand comments on Jeffrey Epstein’s taste in women in Beautiful Women (2019), Jennifer Araoz’ testimony of Epstein raping her when she was 15 in He Knew Exactly What He Was Doing (2019) and Christine Blasey Ford’s famous description of Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulting her while in high school in Testimony (2019). These works position the exhibition distinctly in our timeline and news cycle. Other works circle around the historically oppressive, yet ongoing instances of men calling women crazy and hysterical and insisting on the silencing of women. Further, there are examples centered around sexual assault, most strikingly in the wall-sized I AM a WOMAN (2019), which is comprised of over 500 tiles, some of which say “It’s not like he raped you,” and “she was asking for it.” The tiles are arranged in a way that is, like the other ceramic pieces, cohesive as a whole from a distance, and detailed and rich upon closer inspection.

Some of the most gut-wrenching statements are in corners of the aforementioned piece and are comprised of multiple tiles which state “I AM HERE TODAY NOT BECAUSE I WANT TO BE,” and “FOREVER SEARED IN MY MEMORY.” Symbols of womanhood and femininity are interspersed throughout the piece, from kitchen tools to makeup supplies, seemingly stating that makeup is as integral to a woman’s experience as rape and belittlement. Both hard and soft, subtle and outspoken, funny and sad, beautiful and repulsive, “You Should Calm Down” is both a commentary and a battle cry, and truly embodies what it is to be a woman throughout time and, unfortunately, well into 2019.