“You have mystery service ahead and will soon enough realise what is expected of you.”
Hilma af Klint
Six artists, Amanda Ansell, Claudia Boese, Karen Densham, Hayley Field, Joanna Whittle, and Hannah Wright, take the worldwide pandemic and the arts practice of Hilma af Klint as stimulus to present their own work in a group show at Asylum Studios Gallery, Rendlesham, Suffolk.
After abandoning her previous life as a portrait and landscape artist, Hilma af Klint gave herself one year to make a series of large abstract configurations. Intended to be a message to mankind, she devoted herself to this new series of paintings the whole time knowing that the art world wasn’t ready for the kind of art she was making, during her lifetime. For an artist, one year is a good amount of time to prepare, gather new material, distil ideas and produce a new body of work.
The last year and a half has been a ‘Workout’ for many: working out the significance of the pandemic, dealing with instability or loss, finding fresh ways of discovering and advancing forward, when the world seems to have stopped moving intermittently. The pandemic has seen us lose the sense of our usual coordinates for a period of time, only to place ourselves on to a new trajectory. A majority have drifted off into their unique psychological spaces and explored new places (real or imaginary).
The artists in this exhibition present their creative ‘Workout.’ During unprecedented times, their artworks demonstrate how each artist has been working out their own practice and maybe some individual and/or world mysteries too.
Amanda Ansell says, “Occasionally it felt like the universe was telling us that it was time to ‘workout’ all things that are significant for ourselves/those close to us/society at large. The stop and start restrictions, the isolation and fear led to feelings of ambivalence and it was instinctive to reach out to others to help us make sense of the world at play. My paintings are at times obsessive; the formations go round and round following a self-perpetuating method. During the lockdown months, I kept myself occupied in the studio to work through the hazy feelings of the pandemic. Here I was able to progress my simple and tactile, swirling circular formations and generate ideas for future paintings.”
About Asylum Studios Gallery
Asylum Studios was set up in 2000 as a co-operative to provide affordable studio spaces to professional artists based in the Woodbridge area of Suffolk, and to create a sustainable focus for professional arts activity in this area. Located at the old ‘Special Investigations’ building on Bentwaters, Asylum holds exhibitions, seminars and residencies each year.
https://www.asylumstudios.uk/
Instagram: @asylumstudiosuk
Asylum Studios Gallery
Building E2, Bentwaters Park
Rendlesham, Suffolk
IP12 2TW
Exhibition Dates: Saturday 16th October – Sunday 24th October 2021
Gallery Hours: Saturday and Sunday 11am – 4pm or by appointment