KOHLER, Wis. – June 4, 2025 – Kohler Co., a global leader in kitchen and bath design and innovation and long-time champion of the arts, is proud to support the groundbreaking work of artist Patty Chang, whose installation Abyssal is now on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The art piece was created through a collaboration between Chang and Kohler’s invitational artist residency program called Kohler MakerSpace.

Chang, known for her provocative and socially engaged art, is the visionary behind Abyssal, while Kohler’s role in this project was to provide a unique space for creative collaboration. Through the Kohler MakerSpace – a dedicated environment within a factory setting where artists can access industrial materials and expert technicians – Kohler offered the resources and support necessary to bring Chang’s vision to life. The partnership enabled the boundaries of creative expression, with Kohler’s capabilities helping to materialize Chang’s vision and transform it into a work of art that invites conversation and reflection.

Abyssal challenges perceptions of support and labor, while exploring themes of identity and societal expectations. The piece features a raw, unglazed porcelain massage table punctured by holes, reimagining the everyday object as a thought-provoking symbol of complexity and transformation.

After Abyssal concludes at The Met on August 17, it will embark on an unusual transformation: the piece will be submerged in the Pacific Ocean, where it will serve as a platform for sea organisms, contributing to marine regeneration. This remarkable final act reflects the potential for art to not only challenge perceptions but also provide a lasting, positive environmental impact.

“The transport of porcelain from Asia to the West traveled across the ocean and much porcelain actually resides atthe bottom of the sea due to shipwrecks,” shared Chang. “The sinking of the porcelain massage table will represent “the history of migration linked to colonial trade across oceans” and its connection to earth, specifically water.

By bringing together Kohler’s industrial expertise and unique creative space and Chang’s artistic vision, Abyssal exemplifies the unique partnership that exists through the Kohler MakerSpace program. It underscores Kohler’s belief in the power of art to push boundaries, spark conversations, and inspire change. Through supportingartists like Chang, Kohler demonstrates how the fusion of art and industry can drive both creative and innovative thinking.

“At Kohler, we believe that art, like innovation, has the power to drive progress,” said Laura Kohler, Chief Sustainable Living Officer at Kohler Co. “Patty’s work challenges us to rethink societal norms, and in doing so, it encourages bold thinking – whether it's solving everyday problems or addressing global challenges. Art inspires us to look at the world in new ways, pushing us to think creatively and find innovative solutions across design, sustainability, and beyond.”

“The [Kohler] associates taught me so much,” recalled Chang. “Since I had no experience with ceramics, I relied on them to help me with every stage from mixing plaster, to shaping a model, pouring a mold, making a cast, casting a piece, firing, glazing. Mostly on my own, I worked on texturing and figuring out the aesthetic experience of the work.”

Legacy of Supporting Artists and Innovation

Arts/Industry, an application-based residency program funded by Kohler Co. and administered by the John MichaelKohler Arts Center, has a rich 50-year history of empowering artists by providing access to Kohler’s industrialmaterials, state-of-the-art facilities, and skilled production technicians. This program has long been a cornerstone of Kohler’s legacy of design and innovation, offering artists a unique opportunity to create work that merges art and industry.

Building on the foundation of Arts/Industry and expanding the company’s commitment to supporting artists, Kohler MakerSpace launched in 2023. It provides a dynamic, flexible space where artists and designers can collaborate with skilled associates, experiment with industrial materials, and explore larger-scale works.

For Kohler, these initiatives go beyond supporting individual artists. They represent a broader cultural commitment to creativity and innovation that permeates the company. Whether through the legacy of Arts/Industry or new opportunitiespresented by Kohler MakerSpace, Kohler offers a platform – within a factory setting – for artists to experiment, innovate, and share their visions with the world, fostering a culture of forward-thinking design that extends throughout the company.

About Patty Chang

Patty Chang is a Los Angeles based artist and educator who uses performance, video, installation and narrativeforms when considering identity, gender, transnationalism, colonial legacies, the environment, large-scale infrastructural projects, and impacted subjectivities. Her museum exhibition and book The Wandering Lake investigates the landscapes impacted by large scale human-engineered water projects such as the Soviet mission toirrigate the waters from the Aral Sea, as well as the longest aqueduct in the world, the South to North Water Diversion Project in China. Her most recent collaborative project, Learning Endings, is a multi-part interdisciplinary research project that has surfaced amidst the overlapping contexts of climate crisis, threatened ocean ecosystems, and challenges to scientific expertise. It examines the work of scientists who perform necropsies of dead marine mammals as unacknowledged forms of attention and care, and explores how various kinds of art practice can support this care work.

Her work has been exhibited nationwide and internationally at such institutions as the Museum of Modern Art, NewYork; Guggenheim Museum, New York; New Museum, New York; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; BAK, Basis voor actuele Kunst, Utrecht; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester, England; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Times Museum in Guangzhou, China; and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. She has received a United States Artist Fellowship, a Rockefeller Foundation Grant, a Creative Capital Fellowship, a Guna S. Mundheim Fellowship in the Visual Arts at the American Academy in Berlin, a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, TheRobert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Art and the Environment grant, and an Anonymous Was a Woman Grant. She currently teaches at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA.

About Kohler Co.

For more than 150 years, Kohler Co. has been a global leader in bold design and innovation, dedicated to helpingpeople live gracious, healthy, and sustainable lives through its kitchen and bath products; luxury cabinetry, tile, andlighting; wellness products and services; and luxury hospitality experiences and major championship golf. Privately held Kohler Co. was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Kohler,

Wisconsin. The company also develops sustainable living solutions to enhance the quality of life for current and future generations. Its Innovation for Good platform addresses pressing issues, such as clean water andsafe sanitation, with breakthrough products and services for underserved communities. David Kohler serves as Chair and CEO and represents the fourth generation of Kohler family leadership.

High-resolution Images

*Attribute photos of exhibit at The Met as:  Photo by Eileen Travell, Courtesy of The Met

*Attribute photos of Patty Chang as:  Photo Courtesy of Kohler Co.

Media Contact:

Todd Weber, todd.weber@kohler.com