Making juice with Michael Parker at HRLA gallery

“Juicework,” Michael Parker’s installation at Human Resources, consisted of a series of sculptural stations where gallery-goers could make juice with the artist’s handmade ceramic tools. Parker even made the stoneware sinks in which the fruit was washed. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Feb. 11, 2015 7:53 AM PT

L.A. artist Michael Parker created an installation at the Human Resources gallery in Chinatown that involved ceramics, water and juicing.

Michael Parker took a participatory activity that could be kind of boring (squeezing citrus) and turned it into a sculptural event. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

The artist crafted all of the ceramic citrus-squeezing implements. They felt like primordial tools, each nesting perfectly in the hand, with flamboyant, propeller-like apparatuses for extracting juice. They were so beautiful, I wanted to slip one into my purse. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Michael Parker created the drinking cups that held juice. Some looked like ancient archaeological finds, others resembled sea anemones (as above). A few took their inspiration from the scaly-looking cherimoya fruit. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

I used this tool to extract the juice of these grapefruits. It was messy and sticky and just a little sexual -- and added to the aroma of citrus that already permeated the space. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

All of the implements were laid out on split-wood boards requiring the viewer to kneel or crouch before the pieces. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)