iota

About

Romantic introspection is a stereotypical label attached to the artist, and iota seeks to underline this notion with a gothic flourish. Iota is an examination of the miniscule and intricate within sculpture, photography, printmaking and animation. Reminiscent of the fantastic and supernatural of Victoriana the works selected will insist on the viewer's introspection due to their many layers and detailing. Iota constructs microcosms where artists offer us a glimpse through their looking glasses. Behind an impulse to explore natural phenomena by recording them graphically lies the longing to understand something at its deepest level, a desire that might seem to belong to the realms of science, but can only be traced to Romanticism.

Mirrored in these artists' processes, is the overall condition of their approach to their subject. The studio becomes an inner sanctum of concentrated ideas; a cocoon in which the outside and the everyday are shut out, leaving room for the deep introspection often sought in order to nurture the concept at the core of the work.

The Sculptors in the show create elegant silhouettes, reflecting the refinement and decorative qualities of the nineteenth century picturesque. Iota demonstrates the intimate relationship that these artists have with the physicality of the objects they create. Composite microcosmic parts draw the viewer into the artists' world made from materials, which demand laborious application. Structures are executed with strange and fantastic processes. Iota has a melancholic ambiguity drawing us in with intense moments floating in a dark vampiric air.

Salvatore Arancio's work explores beauty and sublime in nature and their relation with science. Interested in botany and geology and fascinated by the merging of myth and science in 19th century illustration, Arancio associates these notions with ideas of displacement and ambiguity. Employing a number of different media, including photography, video, etchings and photomontage, his work explores the state of suspension between the real and the fictional through an emphasis on construction and staging. Fictional landscapes are a recurring theme within Emily Candela's film 'making. Her 'Heath Robinson' 'like model making techniques animate with what seem like pulleys and strings although behind this innocent construction lurks the hint of catastrophe.