Pam Glew: 'Wanderlust Hotel'

About

Inspired by the intriguing goings-on in legendary hotels such as New York’s Chelsea Hotel and Hotel Marmont in LA, as well as film-makers such as David Lynch, Glew has created the 'Wanderlust Hotel'. The Wanderlust Hotel is a fictional guesthouse frequented by illicit overnight guests, and dark secrets. Populated by the weekend girlfriend, the bride (with a revolver), the maid, the mixologist, the sleeping porter, the receptionist, the Call Girl on a visit to Vegas (pictured), as well as the VIP, these fictional guests all sweep in and out of the picture frames of this seductive environment.

Playful, self-staged photo shoots make up the majority of the subjects as the artist explores this imaginary world. Glew has invented stories for all the characters in the ‘Wanderlust Hotel’. For example in the artwork ‘Sisters’, Glew explores a meeting of 2 estranged identical twins. One of which is the maid, and one the VIP. An imagined rift is between them as if they have not spoken in years, they both then meet in the hotel room where the maid is cleaning up after her VIP sister, both tension and compassion are apparent in this captivating work.

The element of ‘play’ is further explored in Glew’s miniature ‘Wanderlust Hotel’ model. Here the hotel is bereft of people as the residents that we have become familiar with are now only present in the tiny re-created versions of the exhibition paintings on the miniature hotel walls, and we further explore the idea of the hotel being an escape, a playground for adults… 

The medium Glew uses is dye and bleach. The use of fabric, dyeing, washing and sewing is used as a metaphor to celebrate women in the history of art, who have been overlooked due to an element of 'craft' in their work. Glew sources antique and vintage quilts, and national flags, to use as her canvasses - the fabric used is equally as important as the image itself. Using quilts to insinuate sleep and slumber, and deconstructing large American flags to just the stars, the flags become less about the location and more visceral, all of these textiles being rich in both history and texture.

Glew has exhibited in in over 100 group exhibitions alongside artists such as Damien Hirst, Tracy Emin and Peter Blake, and she has presented 9 major solo shows throughout her career. Her work continues to be collected by art buyers globally and she has previously been commission by brands such as Armani, Ralph Lauren, MTV, Pepe Jeans, Red Bull, Wagamama, WB Games, and Microsoft. Glew’s work has featured in numerous magazines and newspaper articles, notably her artwork ‘Afghan Girl’, appeared on the front page of the ‘Le Monde’ Newspaper.