- Venue
- Harrow Arts Centre
- Location
- London
Currently, The Gallery HAC is presenting Persona, a solo exhibition by the artist Claire McDermott ARBS. She has also exhibited throughout the country; including, London, Surrey, Sussex, Gloucestershire and Wales to mention a few.
The exhibition includes 6 new sculptures and four pencil drawings of spent Michaelmas Daisies, scientific name Aster Amellus, which served as a starting point for the creation of the work. The artist uses nature as a starting point for the creation of her work, which then takes on a more abstract form and meaning when the successive layers are added. This can be seen in the use of the screens which lift the work into another dimension. The screens are used by the artist to break the view of the sculpture itself. The traditional form of the flower is rendered abstract by the screens which seem to protect and shield the work. At the same time these enhance the beauty of the spent flower captured in mild steel and aluminium. The screens are integral and essential for the meaning of Claire’s work.
The mixture and variety of techniques and mediums used to make the individual pieces enticing, keeping the viewer engaged with the work. There are some really powerful pieces in the collection, which certainly stand out; the fixed crane and bosun’s chair is one of these. Standing several feet tall the work creates its own aura into which the spectator can step up to and engage with the piece itself. The hanging floral sculpture effortlessly hovers mid air by sailing pulleys and a bosun’s chair made of clear perspex and rope. The range of materials and juxtaposition of textures used in this piece create an image of power, but also a calm balance, which adds to the complexity of the piece.
This exhibition has been called Personas as the word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. Using the screens as a mask for the sculptures, changes their entire concept. This led the artist to ask; what forms an identity? And is that identity different for an object as it is for a human? If so does the sculpture have different personas depending on what setting they are in just as we do? She also asks, does art play a bigger role in today’s society than we give it credit for?
The Harrow Art Centre is set in a grand Grade II listed building and in 2012 The Gallery HAC was created with the support of public funding by the Arts Council England. It is an ideal contemporary space for an emerging artist to have for a solo exhibition. Mc Dermott’s body of work pushes the boundaries of sculpture by using traditional skills within the realms of conceptual art. The gallery looks amazing with the works inundating the space in an energising rhythmic flow. Claire’s creations are visually exciting in their complex intertwining sculptural form. It is clear that a great variety of ideas and concepts have inspired the artist’s work. It certainly intrigues and engages the viewer into thinking and questioning their role as passive and active viewers of the art object through the clever and inventive use of the screen. I certainly believe the Gallery at HAC has an interesting and inspiring show on its hands which is well worth exploring.
by Sundus Ausaf
