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A new exhibition with work produced after a collaborative artist residency programme comes to Guernsey from this week.
The exhibition “What Shadow - Ce que dit la bouche d’ombre” will be on show at the Greenhouse Gallery from Friday.
The title of the exhibition is adapted from a line of poetry taken from Victor Hugo’s “Les Contemplations” and invites reflection from visitors to consider what lies in the shadows, other worlds and the border between what we know to be true and to be false.
Throughout 2023 and 2024, ArtHouse Jersey, Guernsey Arts and Les Ateliers du Vent have been working together on a cultural exchange and art residency programme.
Supported by the Institut Français, Rennes Metropole, the States of Jersey & Guernsey Arts, the residency exhibition celebrates artistic collaboration across the islands and Rennes Metropole.
Three artists were selected to represent each jurisdiction and have visited each place to work together on research, creative concepts, with the overall aim being to develop a shared body of work.
Guernsey has been represented by Yasmin Atkinson, a multidisciplinary performance artist, who has worked in theatre, photography and more recently, ceramics.
Her work is inspired by local heroes, fantasy and folklore, in this exhibition focussing on the spiritual connections between Jersey, Guernsey and France, the connections between the artists taking part in the residency as well as Victor Hugo’s spiritual presence that continues to intrigue and captivate today.
“In this exhibition, I present four ceramic sculptures, each imbued with layers of symbolism and reflection,” she said.
“Three sculptures symbolise the stages of womanhood: the Maiden, adorned with stars; the Mother, radiating with the warmth of the sun; and the Crone, shrouded in the mysteries of the moon.
“Through the veil of leaves, words are carried from Hugo's tables of words. In this exploration of legacy and mystical landscapes, I invite viewers to join me on a journey of introspection, where the boundaries between the known and the unknown blur, and the whispers of the otherworld beckon.”
Rennes has been represented by photographer Estelle Chaigne.
Her work looks at the spiritualism of Victor Hugo, giving an image and a voice to the spirits of yesteryear. She is a resident artist of Les Ateliers du Vent in Rennes and enjoys working collaboratively on artistic projects and residencies, having previously undertaken a similar residency in Winnipeg, Canada.
Ceramicist Louise London represents Jersey.
Through her research in Guernsey, Jersey and France, she has created ‘relics’ of human creativity. In a world where artificial intelligence is evolving and creating for us already, she asks the viewer to question whether AI is a threat or whether it is an output of what we input.
Based on heritage dance in Jersey, Guernsey and Rennes, London’s work takes impressions made from the feet of heritage dancers and develops them into abstract sculptures, using repetition as a metaphor of how the artist views AI’s creations - a projection of humanity's creativity.
The Greenhouse Gallery is situated within The Guernsey Museum at Candie.
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