Originally posted on Medium, Mar 17, 2022
I haven’t been to an Art Exhibition for a long time and I nearly didn’t go to this one. I am so glad I did. Not just for the welcome pop of colour from the canvases of Claudio Pestana’s work, ‘Fag Attacks the Country’ as they set themselves in traditional English countryside ‘scapes’ with a playful provocativeness. The wonderfully ingenious creations of Kialy Tihngang’s ‘Useless Machines’ also gave me a thrill although I quell a little at using headphones at public exhibitions these days and can’t wait for an ‘app’ to emerge that allows one to play back audio and perhaps even short film clips via wi-fi or bluetooth or… something not yet thought of?
It’s been a merciless year for me and lacking in fun and frivolity but the works on display by Li An Lee and ‘Linguistic Confetti’ by Liv Collins achieved a form of alchemy spontaneously connecting to create something both beautiful and joyful — a third ‘live’ piece of work. I was delighted to meet Li An Lee and be able to talk about her exploration of childhood, play and development through a series of still photos capturing wonderfully evocative moments, whilst her two youngest children (like me, Li An Lee nearly didn’t make it to the exhibition either due to a childcare malfunction) played with the confetti which formed a part of Liv Collins work on the Altar Stage — watching the ‘confetti spaghetti’ being sprinkled, thrown up in the air, poured carefully onto a small table amongst giggles and laughter, was mesmerising and perfectly echoed the expressive observations made in Liv Collin’s accompanying text about wanting to bring joy, light and colour back into people’s lives.
Art exhibitions are often an enigma to me; drawn as I am to colour, texture and form, I yet crave meaning and explanation or ‘context’ and am not often inclined to draw my own conclusions or voice my responses, which is why I love it when I am able to hear resident Artist and Curator, Mirka Golden-Hann discuss work on display; her articulate use of language is as enriching and enchanting as her own work as a Potter. It also explains, why I can otherwise, be found pouring over the exhibition programme digging for insight and clues to the story behind the work. Li An Lee was generous in allowing me a personal insight into her work and journey as an emerging artist, having surmounted some breathtaking challenges to complete her Art Degree during the pandemic whilst shut in a house with her four children, and wider family. She says she is not a photographer but her work shows an innate ability to use the lens to tell a powerful human story — she didn’t give it an over-arching title but ‘Mother’s Gaze’ would work very well.
Gates Wide Open at Salisbury Arts Centre
15 March — 7 May 2022
© JulietB. 2022