RISE AND SHINE

“Art… invites multiple possible readings; at its best, it embraces contradiction, dissent, ambiguity and idiosyncrasy. It could be said that all art – all non-propagandist art – is a form of resistance to the idea that the shape, the meaning, the myriad ways of living in and moving through the world should – or even could – ever be one thing. The greatest paintings, performances, sculptures, installations and films refuse to represent anyone as a type: this is, perhaps, art’s finest attribute.” 

Emilie  Houldsworth is a visual artist who addresses the nature of colour, language, logic, and dimensionality. Combining digital quilting techniques, printed textile, and laser cut metal frames; she explores themes of liminality and phenomenology through material dualities. Inspired by minimalist Ellsworth Kelly, and Colour Theorist Emily Noyles Vanderpole and her series “Colour Problems”, her practice lies at intersection within Code and Aesthetics, and explores the aesthetic qualities of information in abstract forms.

Jack Gwyer is a visual artist working primarily with oil and wax on canvas. His practice reimagines the visual motifs of our material future, referencing themes of desire and societal pressure through the manipulation of texture and displacement of form. 

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Each painting aims to gradually reshape the aesthetic palette of our material future away from its prosaic associations and towards new possibilities. In the formation of the final surface, figuration and abstraction appear and fade, with each added layer amplifying the oscillation between the familiar and the foreign, and each new hue muddying the waters between commerce’s memories and dreams.

Simon the Last’s work is principally interested in the themes of legacy and memory; how they define the material world around us, shape the stories that we tell ourselves, and intersect with the queer experience. This often includes explorations of social justice and class consciousness. 

The artist’s current practice evolved from a decade-long practice as both theatre director and filmmaker. As a result, Simon the Last’s work is often theatrical in nature - taking the form of an installation or an immersive experience - aimed at consciousness raising and agitating against hegemonic systems. It is important that the work is as accessible as possible.

Zimbalista finds inspiration in the nuanced emotions and ideas that permeate our day to day lives. Through a fictitious lens, he explores concepts of identity, social patterns, clichés, stereotypes, and the human perception of life. His artistic practice is attempting to serve as a catalyst for posing thought-provoking questions and instigating critical examinations.

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Within his body of work, Zimbalista consciously tries to blur the boundaries of the moving-image medium. He harnessed its potential as a powerful tool for delving deeper into these intricate subjects. His artworks are imbued with narrative elements, employing a fusion of cinematic and artistic languages. By manipulating the conventions of storytelling, Zimbalista seeks to unravel the complexities of human experience and shed light on the multifaceted nature of our existence.

Jan Valik approaches painting as an ecosystem of fragmented thoughts, intangible territories and semi-open zones. His painting process is a form of visualised doubts and decisions, both perceptual and psychological, that obey yet undermine the implicit rules and oscillate between a number of possibilities all at once. This in between-ness is a crucial element, allowing for simultaneity and permeability of chance and control and shifts from accidental marks to conjured spaces. 

Reliant on immediacy, impulse and emotion Valik tries to paint at that elusive intersection where the external space affects the internal one. This leads him to explore the immersion into a sense of play, aware of painting’s escapist naiveties, even irony and absurdity in an ever increasing and omnipresent tensions of the world and one’s position in it.

Through these fluctuating tensions he explores the expansive concept of non-place and de-territorialised spaces, evocation of otherness and belonging underscored by contemporary issues of global displacement, issues of environmental nature and post-humanist understanding of histories. 

It is somewhere between limits and possibilities of the gesture that can be seen both for its intrinsic properties and for its ability to imply fictive spaces, that the dialogue takes place.

Through painting, Phillip Reeves depicts fictional and occasionally fantastical scenes that initially explore the blurred sense of time and place within memories. Dreamlike interiors and landscapes incorporate familiar elements of life that both stylistically and symbolically can either represent a quasi- nostalgic ordinariness or an improbable world. The isolation and dislocation of people and objects, and the exploration of subtle spatial relationships, recall the hazy state of dreams in which certain details become dominant while others fade away into the unconscious. The result of this can be both realistic and subtly uncanny, for example, a surreal theatre recalling an idealised vacation or a deep personal longing for past experiences, perhaps linking in with an emotive memory of play.

Rita Osipova’s intent has always been to make immersive works that transport us to complex feelings, situations, and phenomena. She likes to straddle the line between real and fictional worlds – creating a poetic yet visceral experience.

Osipova’s recent work investigates the emotional journey one undergoes through various online (social) media, using installation, photography, video and sculpture strung on a thin thread of sound. She aims to break the boundaries between the physical and digital creating otherworldly dimensions.

Tom Woolner’s work has taken many forms, from large scale sculptural installations, often built on site for specific locations, to solo and collaborative performances, responding to context, that employ humour and slapstick theatrical devices. 

More recently, however, he has been making things that come closer to paintings. This new work, made through an intuitive and playful process of pouring, piping and squidging, akin to cookery or amateur cake decorating, allows materials to take control at a molecular level, compressing and comingling into, rather than onto the surface.

Made in reverse and partially blind, semi-viscous liquids slowly or rapidly congeal to agree upon a form that sits somewhere between painting, sculpture and fresco. These surfaces hang proud of the wall, as if excavated from a slice of agate or ancient tablet.

They open portals into, and out of the body, to reveal alternative landscapes and a

corporeal meteorology.

Acierno is a female artist specialising in 2D media. Conceptually, the ‘encounter’ is central within her work – an encounter with a stranger, a brutal or absurd encounter. The essence is the meeting point, the tension of two units crossing paths, and the power dynamic implicit in this brief contact. For Acierno, the painting itself is a moment of encounter. Within its boundaries, once-familiar objects and places shift, assuming alien qualities. Kafka’s Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams and found himself in his home, but entirely transformed. It is this metamorphosis, this state of slippage, that occupies my her work.

 Andrew Kernan is a visual artist who works in painting and curation. His practice delves into the nuances of community expressions and the evolving functions of spaces, investigating the intersection between the tangible and virtual, public and private, and the individual’s sense of stability. He examines the loss of a sense of place resulting from miscommunication and the diffusion of information. This theme serves as a focal point, guiding his inquiry into the dynamics that shape our understanding of these spaces. Kernan infuses the work with layers of commentary by merging communal repositories with found objects by re-purposing these elements within the gallery, making viewers reconsider the function and meaning of the objects and spaces around them. His practice reflects on the multifaceted nature of our surroundings, challenging us to explore the hidden narratives within these intersections.

Drawn to anomalies and absurdities, Boyuan’s works fantasise and alter reality. He employs humour and metaphor to interrogate notions of normality, social constraints, gender and sexuality, underlying ideologies, beauty standards, and elitism. Currently working with graphite on paper, he explores the theme of self-portraiture. Inspired by Fernando Pessoa, who wrote under various fictional pseudonyms with different personalities, Boyuan depicts himself as an androgynous worm with bobbies and willy, engaging in distinct experiences and inhabiting diverse environments. Through his artistic practice, he delves into his possibilities and emotions, such as fear, doubt, despair, and joy.

Thalia Karpouzi’s artistic practice centers on the medium of painting whilst simultaneously exploring various spatial and structural forms that painting can adopt. Focusing on womanhood, she captures the imagery of ordinary, overlooked everyday situations. Karpouzi delves into societal norms related to beauty, aging, and success, prompting viewers to reflect on their own connections to these constructs. Deliberately, she directs her own attention towards seemingly inconspicuous situations, devoid of grandiosity or overt significance. Her artistic view is fixated on circumstances that eschew celebration of glory or success, opting instead for a poignant examination of the subtle nuances woven into our collective experience. 

Aleksandra Vetter is a versatile artist specialising in collage and gouache, with a decade-long career in animation. Collaborating with major industry players like Hasbro, LEGO, and Netflix. Her personal work resonates with themes of human relationships and draws inspiration from the rich cultural tapestries of Poland and Ireland.