Vanessa Billy / Edith Dekyndt / Erin Shirreff. Slow Objects

About

The exhibition includes a selection of new and recent works by Vanessa Billy, Edith Dekyndt and Erin Shirreff, artists who share an interest in both natural and pseudo-scientific processes, alchemy and labour. ‘Slow Objects’ includes video, photography, sculpture and installation, exploring the relationship between image, surface and form and the way we perceive and understand objects.

Vanessa Billy is known for sculptural works that utilise a wide range of familiar substances including waste materials, residues and discarded objects that suggest human activity and question our relationship with the world around us. Her practice is grounded in the physical qualities of these materials, providing a base from which to explore alchemical processes and cycles of energy and activity.

Residues also feature in the work of Edith Dekyndt. Familiar materials such as salt, sugar, bread, milk, lemons, earth and blood are used in unfamiliar ways, testing substances through a variety of natural processes – including fermentation, absorption, desiccation and decay. Traces of these experimental processes are recorded in the work, which ranges from video and sculpture, to performance and installation.

Erin Shirreff’s work explores the material and temporal qualities of objects and images. Working with photography, video and sculpture, her work blurs the distinction between object and image to explore the process of recognition. Her works suggest the passing or understanding of time and enables what she describes as “a drawn out encounter” with the object.