Venus in Pisces
File it under the beautiful bathroom additions section. Made from vegan glycerin, Elaina Bender’s Venus in Pisces handmade soap uses a patented, layered process of imprinting a photographic image on a shower bar. Over time, as they wear down from use, the image remains intact, reproduced through the glass onion of the soap’s layers. Drawing from a reference library for her “Encyclopedique” collection, Bender appropriates full-color images of botanical and insect species. Each frosted glassine bar, at a square two-and-a-half inches, is a miniature art object.
Best of Chicago 2014
