Glass figures prominently into "Currents 124," a multimedia exhibition by artist Crystal Z (sic) Campbell currently on view at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Blown-glass sculptures, referencing apothecary bottles that once had distinct shapes so that illiterate people could identify them by sight, as well as wall-hung works combining paper and fiber examine both the Black and Filipino histories, including how each have experienced colonization in different ways. The exhibition, which opened on October 25, 2025, runs through Sunday, March 9th, 2025.
"Currents 124" takes up several galleries and displays handmade paper and natural materials as well as glass. Themes in the exhibition are based on Campbell’s own mixed-race background and life experiences.
"A framework I use for my work is the notion of the underloved," Campbell explains. "And that includes people, places, and histories I want to amplify.’
Instead of acting as blank vessels for the important messages that might be enclosed, the everyday manila envelopes splayed open and hung with raw abaca fibers communicate their messages from the outside as they invite closer scrutiny. It is notable the artist spent time working with letters and other correspondences during a stint at the United States Postal Service, where some of her family were also employed. The varied objects in the exhibition convey messages of all kinds.
From the beginning, Campbell has used glass to embrace figures and events from the past. Her first-ever work in glass was a laser-etched tribute to Henrietta Lacks, the Black woman who died of cancer at a time when medical ethics were non-existent, and Black Americans were often enlisted in experiments without their knowledge or consent. Cells taken from Lacks's cancer tumor were cultured and have been used for decades for their unusual vigor, allowing for medical research that has resulted in numerous breakthroughs, which have even included three Nobel-Prize-winning advances in medicine.
The glass objects of "Currents 124" are similar and different, honoring past victims of colonial exploitation, but broadening the definition to include an entire marginalized group.
“It’s not quite a public secret,” Campbell says, “but the St. Louis Art Museum was built for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. And a living exhibit of Filipinos brought for the fair ended up being the largest exhibition of the exposition. Many of the forced migrants from the Philippines ended up succumbing to disease from the colonial encounter.”
This lack of consideration for the devastating effect of disease against a vulnerable population, together with the large number of Filipino-American nurses in the modern day, influenced Campbell's decision to explore the notions of illnesses and cures as they relate to racial justice.
All vessels on display are designed after the fashion of long-ago apothecary vessels.
“These vessels were originally used as show globes,” explains Campbell, “to signal to people without the ability to read that they were somewhere that could prescribe remedies for healing.”
For those with the ability to read, the evocative titles add another dimension to the works, like the purple-and-green stoppered bottle called Nakakagamot, Tagalog for “curative”.
Other works honor Black culture, like the narrow black vessel titled Black Star Line after the Black-owned mailing company of the early twentieth century, and the golden decanter known as The Comet after the interracial sci-fi story by W.E.B. DuBois. Each piece reaches several feet high, characterized by their bright colors and intricate designs.
“I thought of the blowing of glass as a breath archive,” says Campbell. “Each glass vessel is a material record. I’m trying to listen to the voices that these material witnesses are whispering to me.”
IF YOU GO:
Through March 9, 2025
Crystal Z. Campbell
"Currents 124"
St. Louis Art Museum
St. Louis, Missouri
Website