All That Glitters
All That Glitters: Helen Braund, Tiffany Cole, Romany Fairall, Michele Grimston, Emma Rani Hodges
Exhibition
Exhibition Opening: Saturday 12 November, 4pm
Exhibition showing: 5 Nov – 17 Dec 2022
All That Glitters.
Sparkling, multifaced, shimmering. Scientists have posited that our innate attraction to all things shiny is linked to our biological dependence on water, the ultimate glistening surface and giver of life.
Across time and culture humans have used shimmer and shine to denote preciousness, sacredness, and value, risking much to unearth gemstones and precious metals. We covet the mystery of these materials, drawn to the way that light flickers across their surfaces and sends refractions dancing across space.
Today, we recreate the surface qualities of these rare and precious objects using materials that are cheap, abundant and easily available. But while some might decry these industrial products as gaudy or tacky, the power of their shimmering to elicit a deep emotional response is equally strong. If we allow it, they too can spark moments of magic which allow us to momentarily transcend the mundane.
All That Glitters wholeheartedly embraces a love of glitz. But even while it invites us to joyfully revel in the sparkling surface, the show also draws us onward, beyond the shine. As in a deep lake, these glistening surfaces obscure depths of great wonder, beauty and danger. One must take a risk and breach the surface, in order to understand the full value of the other worlds which lie beyond.
Together, the artists in this exhibition explore sparkle and shine in all its forms, creating a visual feast that belies the depth of power in their works. They ask us to embrace our innate attraction to all things shiny and to allow it to enrich our everyday lives.
The All That Glitter Artists also invite you to take part in the Magpie’s Nest workshop on Saturday 12th November.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Tiffany Cole undertakes tender and meticulous observational study of the moving, multifaceted and sparkling surfaces of shiny and reflective collectable kitsch objects. She carefully reproduces them in oil paint, drawing attention to the elusiveness of reflection and shine by capturing it in static form. By closely describing the complexity of their mobile shifting surface qualities, Cole aims to portray the objects as optically sophisticated, and in doing so challenge their low aesthetic status.
Helen Braund also engages with the pure joy of sparkle, it’s surface properties and alluring glimmer. She creates magic and wonder in her works, using photography to capture fleeting experiences of light which are transformed into new worlds within the bounds of the image.
Emma Rani Hodges embraces sparkle and kitsch as cross-cultural communicators. They build up layers of golden fabrics that vibrate with emotional depth, transforming the everyday of their own life and history into something sacred through the making process.
Michele Grimston uses painstaking textile processes, and embellishment with metallic fabrics and threads to nurture her own, personal, precious objects into being. These are invested with value both through the shining surfaces and intense dedication of time which is central to their creation.
Romany Fairall’s meticulously applied lines of glitter create rhythmic worlds that invite you to immerse yourself in their complexity. Heavily patterned and referencing biological forms, they play with the macro and the micro and remind us of the rewards of careful attention to the world.