Exhibitors Luci Coles, Monica Shanta Brown and Vicki Gardner present ‘Eden’, a group exhibition exploring this concept as earthly paradise, a personal and inner space, and a symbol of creation with contemporary connotations to our environment.
Following on from their 2013 exhibition ‘Encircling Life’ which looked at themes that explored gardens, life cycles and creation, this new showcase shares and expands upon some of these strands, continuing the collaborative process of the three artists.
The exhibition runs across Artizan’s three exhibition spaces with a range of installations and 2D and 3D works.
About the Artists
Luci Coles trained as a sculptor, graduating from Wimbledon School of Art in 2000. She works with mixed media painting and sculpture, demonstrating a unique blend of experimental and traditional techniques.
For this exhibition, Luci has interpreted Eden as our planet, our environment, and environments, down to the individual bubbles in which we exist:
“I started by looking at creation stories across cultures and links between science and myth, creating a series of objects which have an ambiguity that suggest both fiction and reality. This evolved into observations about what we have done with this created world, where we are now and how we live, our desires and the things which we assign value to in the creation of our own personal Edens”
“Uniting these thoughts through painting and sculpture is the recurring visual theme of contrasts; between dark and light; between the manmade and the organic; between made and found objects. There is also a lot of gold.”
Vicki Gardener, as a garden photographer, will exhibit a more literal interpretation of the Eden theme: evoking a sense of peace, harmony, and immersion in natural and cultivated beauty. Vicki will share a range of personal realisations of Eden through her images, taken using both her digital and pinhole cameras. She captures landscapes and through her more abstract, macro work, draws us in to focus attention on the intricate and often overlooked details of gardens. Her mindfulness work also influences her photography, and she is interested in the link between mental health, nature, mindfulness, meditation, and gardens.
‘Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps’
Amos Bronson Alcott
Monica-Shanta Brown’s degree was in Fine Art Painting at Wimbledon School of Art in London. More recently she has completed an MA in Contemporary Art Practice at Plymouth University. Monica does not belong to a culturally defined box, and her work weaves together inspiration from both Western and Asian cultural traditions.
Her art practice is a collage of many materials and outcomes using whatever media or processes suit an idea. She creates digital images, objects, drawings, moving image digital film, interactive performance, and installations.
For this exhibition, Monica relates to the concept of Eden as an earthly paradise garden calling us toward an experience of connection with nature, peaceful inner reflection, spiritual nourishment, and inspiration. Her work also engages with the ongoing human challenge and need to answer that call - for each of us to evolve individually and collectively toward a return to Eden as a living consciousness of environmental harmony with the natural paradise that is planet Earth.
There will be a launch event and an opportunity to meet the artists on Friday 10th June 6 - 8 PM. To attend please RSVP
The Exhibtion will run from 11th June - 2nd July 11 am - 5 pm Tuesday - Saturday