Castle Gallery, Inverness, until 22 March 2008

Moon Bather Star Gazer, 15x17.5cm etching by June Carey

BEAUTY and the Divine are at the heart of this latest show at the Castle Gallery showcasing pastels, original prints and constructions by June Carey, blown and carved glass by Graham Muir and silver, resin and enamel jewellery by Miranda Sharpe. Collectively these works are remarkably complementary to each other and their display within the gallery is beautifully coherent, defined by light, colour and attention to detail.

June Carey’s distinct style is characterised by her uniquely personal iconography, an intriguing and surreal vision that is as mysterious as it is technically adept. Drawing is the cornerstone of her compositions and it is especially gratifying to see the range of work in this exhibition from pencil drawings, constructions, pastels, mono, digital and etched original prints providing insight into her creative process.

A superb draughtswoman, Carey’s stylisation of the female form is distinctly otherworldly. There is aloofness in her representation of the feminine that invokes a Goddess-like presence. The artist seems to invest every voluptuous curve with an edge of cool intellect. The red haired iconic protagonist in this series of works has a powerful presence, creation and destruction of equal probability under her gaze.

The female form is strong, robust and contemplative, an interesting combination of both masculine and feminine traits. Carey’s iconic women occupy the whole space they inhabit and are not easily defined in terms of the female nude as a traditional Western genre. This ambiguity is part of their appeal.

The large scale pastel ‘Constant Companion’ is an excellent example of the female figure commanding the entire framed space, kneeling in the manner of ancient monumental relief sculpture. Inspiration from the artist’s journey to India in 2004 is richly evident in her signature adornment of the body in henna-like tattoos while the form and pose of the figure recalls Classical Hindu sculpture. Her stained hands, feet and breasts in vibrant pink and the heart in her hand with a bird like spirit hovering above it are full of colour and vitality.

A series of torches in the background mimic the flame of her hair and in spite of the figure’s stone-like stillness she is abundantly fertile. This impression relates more to procreation of thought from out of the subconscious than to sex. Carey’s figures may be seductive, but this is never just for seductions sake. There is a holistic feeling throughout this work whereby a woman’s soul is never separated from her body. The way the figure is drawn and adorned declares her faith in herself, likewise the artist is stylistically confident in a way that inspires.

‘Moon Bather’ ed 2 (etching), is a beautiful example of the printmaker’s art in black and white. The power of the figure in this smaller work is no less potent with the curve of the tilted crescent moon spun into orbit around the hand by cross hatching. This natural imagery linked with feminine is not just part of the artist’s iconography but a collective archetypal image.

The mirror-like surface in ‘The Constant Companion’ on which the figure is poised is a common motif in the artist’s work echoed in the two figure composition of “Moon Bathers” ed1. (Digital Print). Inhabiting a dark ground the two figures float facing each other in an upside down inversion, swimming through the unconscious.

The term Surreal applies to Carey’s work on numerous levels. The small watercolour ‘A Dream Away’ is imbued with the soft colours of a sunset and the definition of an ink drawing. It is both elusive and precise in a way that recalls early automatic drawings by Surrealists such as André Masson in the 1920’s and 30’s. The landscape floats through two figures, a composite drawing of a male and female figure merged in embrace, each sharing an eye.

This is a gem of a piece, intricate and complex with none of the potentially narcissistic trappings of the dominant style on show. ‘A Dream Away’ could be read as a relationship, masculine, feminine and self, deconstructed. The identity that dominates the rest of the exhibition so convincingly is lost momentarily in this work. It is more experimental, standing slightly off centre to the iconic goddess works and it is great to see this quality in evidence as part of the exhibition.

Similarly Carey’s Monoprints such as ‘Sweet Dreams’ or ‘Thinking Thoughts’ have a freshness of mark and looser style that is invigorating, a direct product of the process. Drawing with inks onto a sheet of glass to produce a one off original print invests the work with certain spontaneity. The image isn’t overly refined but revealed immediately.

‘Reclining Nude’ (Relief Print & Acrylic), where a figure is simply suggested, embossed in gold like an uncovered fragment of archaeology, is also an interesting exploration by the artist. This contrast between highly detailed and refined stylistic work and fresh lines of enquiry are a compelling part of the show.

Use of digital print is used to great effect in ‘Bird of a Different Kind’ and the divine ‘Touching The Soul’, allowing a higher concentration of ink and saturation of colour than possible with other original print techniques. ‘Touching The Soul’ ed1 is alive with orange, purple and the mythological blue of the central figure. Every mark is invested with symbolism from the locket strung onto the hand to the birds bound to the body, tattooed on the skin.

The dream-like quality of this work is typical of Carey’s marriage of the familiar and unknown. Ultimately meaning in her imagery is tantalisingly hidden in a labyrinth we enter into through her highly accomplished work. The influence of Eastern and Western symbolism and evolution of technique in her art begs further investigation.

Miranda Sharpe’s work in precious metals, resin, leaf metals and enamel combines strong contemporary design with natural forms. Colour is used to great effect to define each range in the exhibition; turquoise, yellow, pink, purple, black and red. Her ‘silver and turquoise medium and small cone drops’ earrings are bold and delicate while the ‘slim ellipse bangle’ with its lace like turquoise resin core is a stunning combination of precious and non precious materials.

Bound in silver this piece is both a personal object of adornment and a design that has an almost architectural aspect to its form. Simple and beautiful the materials, colour and pure metal are allowed to speak for themselves. There is sensitivity in Sharpe’s work not just in relation to synthesis of natural form and colour but in what the artist describes as “making additional planes with the body creating movement upon and around its form”.

Graham Muir’s extraordinary work in glass pushes the boundaries of techniques in blown and carved lead crystal. ‘Midnight Ocean Bowl’ is a superb example, a great natural curve in waves of purple and indigo that contains the sculptural energy of the sea. It is an amazing piece of construction with delicate lapping edges, sheer striations of force, liquid translucence and shifting density capturing the pure element of water. ‘Sargasso Wave Form’ in a range from deep emerald green to pale yellow captures light and colour in movement and like ‘Midnight Ocean Bowl’ it celebrates the qualities of glass as a medium.

The way that colour is filtered combining with light and mixing hue in pieces such as the ‘2CF Disc’ and ‘Meridian’ series is subtle and beautiful. Clean and contemporary, the simplicity and geometry of these precious vessels recall Art Deco. Similarly, works such as ‘Solar’ and ‘Lotus’ abstract natural form, placing the inner vessel at the heart of the piece. Muir’s work is distinctive, the result of a deep understanding of his chosen material and evolution of techniques that are uniquely his own.

© Georgina Coburn, 2008

Links

• Castle Gallery
• Additional images from the exhibition