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Nina Katchadourian

Fake Plants

Presented by Pace Gallery


Working with discarded materials found in her apartment—cardboard boxes, food packaging, disposable masks, toilet paper tubes, ping pong balls, and other everyday items—Katchadourian began Fake Plants during the pandemic. The sculptures and photographs that make up this body of work take the form of imagined botanical specimens, constructed from memory and invention rather than direct observation. The result is a playful and uncanny collection of artificial flora that brings renewed attention to the overlooked materials of daily life.

Known for her sharp wit and curiosity, Katchadourian works across video, sound, sculpture, performance, and photography. Her video Accent Elimination was featured in the Armenian Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, which was awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation. Recent solo museum exhibitions include Uncommon Denominator at The Morgan Library & Museum (2023), Curiouser at the Blanton Museum of Art (2017), and Origin Stories at the National Nordic Museum (2025).  Her work is held in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, SFMOMA, and The Morgan Library & Museum, among others.

Left: Nina Katchadourian, Plant #39, 2021, Cardboard, clay pebbles, cardboard toilet paper tubes, crepe paper, ping pong balls, glass-head pins, 35-7/16 × 15-3/4 × 15-3/4 inches. © Nina Katchadourian, courtesy Pace Gallery.
Right: Nina Katchadourian, Plant #48 (Spider Plant 1), 2025, Discarded nylon strap ties, shredded colored paper, cardboard, cotton macrame cord, 8 × 9 × 9 inches. © Nina Katchadourian, courtesy Pace Gallery