Gallery 31: Piece of Mind

About

Piece of Mind is a new exhibition at Somerset House Studios’ Gallery 31, which will be open from 1 April to 17 July 2022. 

Curated by Harlesden High Street - an art space that celebrates ungentrified neighbourhoods of London and provides resources for underrepresented artists - Piece of Mind explores the effects of the changing functions of our intimate domestic spaces, where we increasingly carry out more work, social and leisure activities.

Presenting a range of multi-media works from Ocean Baulcombe-Toppin, 雅 YA + Casandra Burrell, Farrah Riley Gray, Tyreis Holder, KO___OL and Anna Sebastian, the exhibition draws its focus on the bedroom, a space that is often the main environment for these activities.

“For Ti” and “Foolishness follows feet” is the work of artist, poet and visual storyteller Tyreis Holder who explores the assault on our domestic and sacred spaces as well as self-rituals with her powerful textile carpet works that distort the perception of the room.

雅 YA’s pieces, produced in collaboration with airbrush artist Casandra Burrell, are sculptural re-interpretations of previous photography works, depicting eerie domestic atmospheres where the body often appears as a scattered set of independent parts that merge and interact with their surroundings. 

Farrah Riley-Gray’s woven synthetic hairpiece “we felt seen today” hangs above the exhibition space’s fireplace like a disembodied organ uncannily reclaiming its space as an autonomous entity. This is in contrast with KO___OL’s video installation titled “Violent Prayers”, where hair becomes a memento from a loved one in reminiscence of the old practice of keeping a lock as a token when far from home. KO___OL challenges idealised moments of the routine of life in Nigeria through the lens of family, work and social gatherings, via the setting of the bedroom.

In blessedwithcaribbeansunlight.com, Ocean Baulcombe-Toppin’s holographic representation of a eucalyptus, a historically sacred healing tree, deepens the feeling that all things grounded are, in the domestic space, simulated through technological devices, ultimately belonging to the realm of illusion. Anna Sebastian’s oil on canvas, titled “Persephone”, is one of nine images in a series that explores the contemporary evolution of myth in relation to astrology, a portal to the outside.

As the boundaries increasingly blur between private and intimate spaces, Piece of Mind explores the challenge of true rest - or peace of mind - and its psychological effect, as our minds are increasingly required to compartmentalise our lives in a way our spaces no longer can.