Confusion in her eyes that says it all brings together three artists who each in turn explore perceptions of intimacy and communication, deceptive illusion and control. Humble, everyday materials are transformed, creating new narratives and spaces that draw us in and make us question the nature of experience. Hereby, the exhibition examines the unique perspective an individual experiences at a particular moment in time, and the altered perceptions evoked by an artwork.
In Tamsin Casswell's work, disregarded pieces of fabric are delicately handembroidered to create intimate repairs and structures that evoke recollected landscapes and forms. Jennifer Douglas employs a purposefully codified register of materials exploring the relationships between inherent function and renewed significance and twisting interpretation. Hans Rosenström's installation invites a sole spectator into a re-configured space with site-specific audio, in which they themselves become part of a perplexing narrative.
In Freudian terms, as human beings add, subtract and modify each of life's obstacles in order to interpret reality, they attempt to balance the unconscious with the conscious. In the exhibition, each artist controls their environment in a dynamic struggle with the viewers’ interpretation. The artist's manipulation can therefore be seen as employing different conscious techniques to alter the protagonists' perception. We are left with a resultant space where meanings hover, and outcomes are uncertain.
Tamsin Casswell was born in 1984 and lives and works in London. She received her MFA in Art Practice from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 2008. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and bursaries. Exhibitions include Mayor’s Parlour Gallery, London, and Cafe Viva, London. She will be exhibiting in The Workers, curated by Susan Collis in London in 2015.
Jennifer Douglas was born in 1975, in Amersham, UK. She studied at Newcastle University and Glasgow School of Art. Recent exhibitions include Surface, The Civic, Barnsley, UK; Collecting Contemporary Art, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Workplace Gallery, Gateshead; Exit Strategy, Tramway, Glasgow, UK The Short Score, DLI Museum and Durham Art Gallery, Durham; You Shall Know Our Velocity, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK; Fantastica, Grundy Art Gallery & Museum, Blackpool; Rotate, Contemporary Art Society, London; Northern Futures, The Civic, Barnsley, UK. She was the winner of 2D Salon Art Prize 2012, and Northern Futures. Jennifer Douglas lives and works in Gateshead, UK.
Hans Rosenström was born in Lohja, Finland in 1978, and lives and works in London. He holds an MFA from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts and has received numerous grants and scholarships. Selected solo exhibitions include: Helsinki Contemporary, Helsinki, Finland; Finnish Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova, Turku, Finland; Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria. Group shows include: Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France; Bonniers konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden; West Space, Melbourne, Australia; Centro Gabriela Mistral, Santiago, Chile. He was awarded The Finnish Art Association prize, Duukaattipalkinto in 2011 and the Stina Krooks stiftelse art prize in 2010.