Well done to graduate Karen Elkington for curating a group show for Ebony Curated -‘Room With A View’ 15.3.23 - 29.4.23
Karen states: "The aim of this show is to bring together a group of artists who are focusing on rooms and furniture as a subject matter both as a means to explore concerns, mind states and ideas and to expose the underlying implications of the interior itself. A room is much more than a physical structure; it is irrevocably connected to our sense of self and being.The lives we lead with in our interior spaces have obvious environmental implications.Karen Elkington merges rooms with landscapes to comment on the impact of our high consumption lifestyles, the couch becoming a symbol of our collective apathy. Thirza Schaap and Amy Rusch similarly interweave environmental concerns with elements of the room, laying bare our heavy tread on this earth. The home interior has long been associated with women and the connection is still worth examining with the current reactionary thinking that seems to be resurfacing. Lynette Bester’s reconstructed rocking chair considers the social pressure on women to be the archetypal carer. The distortion of the sculpture speaks of the struggle and ultimately the strength it takes to find a balance between self and role. It has been suggested that interiors as a genre are currently appealing to viewers and buyers in troubled times as they are mentally unchallenging and offer reassuring comfort in their ordinariness and familiarity. Of course whether or not you think art should have meaning and relevancy is an age old debate and comes down to personal choice, but hopefully this exhibition will show that rooms in art are not necessarily ‘vacant’."