Assembly: Tessa Farmer - Infestation

About

Tessa Farmer's miniature winged creatures occupy what seems to be a visionary, transitory state between life and death. These microscopically detailed sculptures are created from organic, found materials and objects. Named 'hell's angels' or simply 'fairies', Farmer's creatures weave a fantasy drawn from literature, legends and her own imagination. Far removed from the Victorian notion of fairies as benign beings, her creatures are by no means cute or innocent. They are predators: barbarous and violent beings who are waging war on each other and on the animal kingdom that they inhabit.

Usually too small to view properly without a magnifying glass, the fairies demand our closest attention. They are equipped with miniature spears and weapons and observing their blood-sport pastimes on close inspection induces a notion of terror and fear. At the same time, the detail with which her objects are crafted leave us with wonder and amazement and we sense that the boundaries between what is 'real' and what is 'imagined' are being blurred.

During the exhibition at Chapter, Farmer's creatures will quietly take over and infest the space - similar to ants in the summer invading the kitchen, or fruit flies gathering around litter bins. Some fairies will be flying, others will be found on surfaces. Armed with deathly weaponry, they will defend themselves against any human intruders who dare to interfere with their cause.