Elbow Room is a group exhibition exploring different dimensions of space, by three different artists, all in dialogue with how we orient ourselves in the world, be it bodily, architectural, or societal.
In this exhibition we investigate the layered readings of domestic environments both artificial and natural, with a focus on our relationship to private spaces and the constructs aroundthem, from the literal to the metaphorical.
Helena Foster’s paintings seek to capture the day-to-day con- flicts and complexities that engulf every household. Working with photography as her starting point, she rephotographs pre-existing imagery taken from family photo albums and film, with a particular interest in Nigerian Cinema. Foster’s work often charts the space between people, that ever fluctuating, invisible landscape enforced and informed by shared experiences and often differences.
In Jill Tate's works the place we call home can feel like a sanctuary or a prison, whether it is made of bricks or brain cells, and this dichotomy is an undercurrent in the sparsely furnished domestic environments she depicts. Tate’s beautifully rendering and astute observation of light and space, make for a paired down meta domus. From the architecture we inhabit to the building blocks of reality, Tate’s work surveys the visible and invisible structures that shape our shared and personal space.
Victor Seaward’s work is rooted in materiality, technologi- cal manufacture, and the agency of objects. Mining a broad spectrum of material culture, Seaward juxtaposes utilitar- ian materials such as concrete and steel, with high-tech manufactured components and objects of historical significance, to investigate authorship, commodity and the fluid nature of time and permanence. Seaward’s ability to emulate natural materials through the process of 3d printing, often creating womb like structures, draw an uncanny relationship to intimate space. Be it a reference to ancient Roman or Grecian philosophy their physical composite as 3d printed objects have the effect of collapsing time.