It’s 2.30pm on a Monday and I feel as if I am about to submit to a vaguely Freudian touch test. The glossy objects in front of me ooze tactile appeal, begging to be handled as my fingers hover between a gelatinous gherkin and a pair of wobbly eggs. Welcome to the weird world of the prop-maker and artist Sienna Murdoch.
Sienna began her artistic journey with a BTEC in sculpture, before taking a lateral step and embarking on a career as a food stylist. Perhaps it was this unusual combination of disciplines, she suggests, that caught the attention of Marvel Studios; the company had been looking for someone to create tall, kinetic food sculptures for an alien banquet in the film The Marvels. ‘I immediately said no,’ she says with a laugh. But thanks to a persistent commissioner, she eventually accepted the job that would change the trajectory of her career. While working on the project she had to learn how to use jelly as a building material, figuring out how big it could go while still being able to support its own weight. After a period of intense research, Sienna created her own medium from Carrageenan seaweed (sourced from Ireland), natural glycerins and corn starch.
In contrast to more traditional mediums like silicone, Sienna’s creation is wholly sustainable and can be melted down and reused. She calls it Geline. ‘I wanted it to sound like something aspirational… but also like an antidepressant,’ she says. This dry, dark humour is characteristic of both the artist and her creations. Imbued with a sense of play – an unavoidable side-effect given their jelly-like being – but laced with darker connotations, her pieces often lean into the uncanny and, at times, the erotic. Perhaps it has something to do with the protean nature of Geline, floating in an ambiguous state between liquid and solid. ‘I don’t think I would be interested in it as a material if it didn’t have the dark side,’ Sienna says. ‘If it was too joyful and colourful, it would turn me off.’
Another of Geline’s dual qualities that appeals to Sienna is its ability to appear ‘vulnerable and delicate’ while at the same time remaining surprisingly resilient, able to withstand handling and the hot lights used on sets. She creates each piece using a series of vacuum moulds; sometimes other materials are incorporated into the final product, too, including plaster, 3D-printed items or found objects.
Sienna has since created props for a long list of films and television shows – among them Loki, Fantastic 4 and Gladiator II – as well as private commissions. She has even developed wearable ones, including a stylised pair of breasts for designer-turned-clown Paulina Lenoir. It was one of her more surreal commissions, she says. ‘I created lots of different kinds of breasts and lots of different kinds of nipples and, over lunch, we went through all of them to create her perfect pair.’ At the moment she’s working with Spring, the chef Skye Gyngell’s restaurant, to design moulds for a set of seasonal dishes; she’s also preparing for a forthcoming solo show next April.
For our shoot, Sienna created a fantasy prop table, featuring items from past projects as well as new additions inspired by the V&A’s archive of the now defunct Theatre Museum’s stockpile. The slick Geline is offset with found items from her collection, including wefts of hair and a spiky Spanish chestnut. Her designs range from a lickable lolly with a cherry on top to a used sink strainer, complete with Geline gunk lurking at the bottom.
Much of her work treads this line between sensual and grotesque, bouncing between the two in an eternal dance. Seduction is something Sienna often returns to in her practice, which she interprets as ‘bringing your awareness to your edges – it’s kind of an invitation to feel it or think about how it feels’. I ponder this, gherkin in hand, struck by an inexplicable urge to call my mother.
‘Geline’ by Sienna Murdoch is at Frieze No.9 Cork Street, London from 10th-12th April 2025. For more information visit sienna.world
A version of this article also appeared in the December 2024 issue of ‘The World of Interiors’. Learn about our subscription offers. Sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter, and be the first to receive exclusive stories like this one, direct to your inbox
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