Pending: Guest Edit by Leonie Summers, Head of PSSA Contemporary and Co-Director PSSA sculpture residency
Pending Window Display, San Mei Gallery, 2020
We're delighted to present the second guest edit of our winter fundraiser Pending by Leonie Summers, Head of PSSA Contemporary and Co-Director PSSA sculpture residency @pssa_sculpture.
Leonie has selected 10 works from the 60+ works we have available that she felt had strong titles. Below we have quotes from each of these artists focussing on the relationship between the work and their titles.
All sales help us fundraise towards the costs of our 2021-22 exhibitions and the education projects with our local Lambeth communities that run alongside them. Profits are split 50/50 between the artists and this fundraising initiative. All purchases will support emerging artists, new projects and community outreach.
Pending continues online and on display in our windows until 31 December.
This womb of things to be and tomb of things that were, 2020
lambswool, pink Iranian onyx
18 x 16 cm
”A piece made through and for my admiration for Ursula K. Le Guin.”
Sophie Goodchild inquiries the otherworldly, linking the rural, the environmental, the mythological, the political, the folkloric and the historical. Goodchild is currently studying Painting at The Royal College of Art.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“The title of this piece is taken from Ursula K le Guin's, The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. This small work exists in the unrest of time, whilst carrying amulets in hand for protection. It sits comfortably with uncertainty. It is a temporal feeling of promise within this new world and harnesses the imminent glimpse of hope on it's own horizon line.”
- Sophie Goodchild
Scaffold
2020
ceramic relief and steel
15 x 15 cm
Nour is a Cairo-based Libyan artist. Through painting, textile design and installation art, she explores the notions of cultural mobility, place and belonging. She is currently studying Painting at the Royal College of Art.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“Unlike architecture's purpose of longevity, the scaffold is a temporary space that moulds its structure into being; it constructs something through its own eventual deconstruction, existing within its own temporality, just like a home and the objects that inhabit it.”
- Nour Jaouda
The Calming Hand #1, 2020
Plaster polymer, acrylic paint and steel wire
3 x 8 x 16 cm
”A spin-off from a current series of larger sculptures titled The Hand-Held Fan and the Calming Hand. The series title refers to ‘The Calming Hand’ a ‘tool’ used in cognitive behavioural therapy to tackle anxiety, panic attacks and breathlessness. It’s a very simple technique that guides the individual through key points to remember when experiencing an anxiety episode (or similar). The idea is that one’s hand serves as the “background” on which to project a mental diagram of sorts - outlining the technique’s five steps. The series draws on my research in diagrams and schematic representations, tools, interplay between image and object, representation etc”
Irini Bachlitzanaki‘s practice has grown out of the exploration of the different ways in which objects carry and produce meaning and the changes in meaning, status and social significance as they transition from one context to another. She studied History of Art at UCL and Fine Art at Central Saint Martins and Chelsea College of Arts before moving back to her native Athens. She is currently undertaking a postgraduate programme at the Royal Academy of Arts.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“My own sculpture borrows its title fromThe Calming Hand, a ‘tool’ used in cognitive behavioural therapy to tackle anxiety, panic attacks and breathlessness. It’s a very simple technique that guides the individual through key points to remember when experiencing an anxiety episode (or similar). The idea is that one’s hand serves as the “background” on which to project a mental diagram of sorts - outlining the technique’s five steps.”
- Irini Bachlitzanaki
My Head. Hurts, My Feet Stink & I Don't Love Jesus, 2017
silicone, monster clay, silicone pigment, human hair, sleek-make-up, acrylic, plastic, nail varnish
8 x 2.3 x 2 cm
“Exploring the unique materiality of the copy, fuelling a discussion of the ‘outsider position of black artists in a white-washed art-world. In this sculpture, the black body is laid bare - and in traction. D'Clark increasingly analyses the characteristics of art-making following the affirmation of digital media; examining the exercise of sculpture in an art-market now technologically underpinned. Her work engages in a discussion of the 'outsider' position of black artists in a whitewashed art-world, challenging and renegotiate the longstanding colonial gaze using notions related to the theory of the body politic, Simulation, Simulacra and anonymity”
Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark is a digital sculptor, writer and curator. D’Clark explores the digital hybridity of sculpture following the affirmation of media, exploring the nuances of identity that pivot between hyper-visibility and invisibility, offering (re-)imagined collective perspective.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink And I Don’t Love Jesus (2017) was an ode to ‘uncertainty’; of one’s positionality in the ‘white-cube’ artworld; of unconfidence; of anticipation of conflict. To abstract any section of the body becomes a political act; in this instance, in working to (re)articulates the black body a strict contextual and aesthetic change occurs, navigating questions surrounding sculptures symbiotic relationship with space and notions surrounding 'presence'.”
- Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark
Best Bathing Experience, 2020
Tracing paper, graphite, colouring pencil, etching and resin
9 x 9 x 4 cm
”An etching of communal a bath is tinted with colour pencil and embedded within a resin splash. The reverse features a drawing of a singing mouth on tracing paper. The resin acts as the glass pane of a window into the shared but private space of bathing. Reality and everyday scuffs are soaped, rubbed and washed off to leave space for imagination. People perform when they bathe, stripping back any clothing, cosmetics, scents or external factors (the costume of the everyday), to become their ‘shower character’. Mirrors, shower curtains, reflective puddles and hot steam are atmosphere enhancers or stage directions that allow the shadow of something to become a weightier action”
Eleanor is interested in exploring content generated from behaviours and routine. Considering the performativity and stillness of her works, she creates a situation for cross-contamination and the suggestion of movement. She works predominantly with painting alongside a more collaborative practice involving performance. She graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2018.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“I title my work like how I would title a chapter in a story. Almost always the work is part of a larger scenario and so the title is a little snippet to let you know where you are in the ‘book’. “My Best Bathing Experience” is an anecdote from the two or three hours I spent at a public bath in Beijing after a period of loneliness. It really was the best!”
- Eleanor Wang
Walk-Run-Fly-Fall, 2020
Rubber, plastic, metal and chroming paint
15 x 10 x 10 cm (x2)
”Taken from a half remembered kitsch painting called the 'Aviators Dream' (or something to that effect), nestled in a quiet corner of the Museum of Modern Art in Lithuania, this pair of silver eggs seem to fly before they can even fall - running before walking”
Benjamin Arthur Brown is an interdisciplinary artist and writer, living and working in London. He studied at The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL. Overarching concerns of his practice are absurdism, story telling, the body and our relationship to objects.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“Titles are hard. In the case of the piece in Pending the work was taken from a half remembered, rather kitsch, painting called the 'Aviators Dream' (or something to that effect), nestled in a quiet corner of the Museum of Modern Art in Lithuania. I experienced this painting a while ago so the image of winged eggs (which I think in the painting are closer to 'sputnik') have come and gone from my consciousness and returned again, mixing with other life experiences and late night thoughts.”
- Benjamin Arthur Brown
Cocoon, 2020
yarn, canvas, stitching, iron wire
15 x 5 x 3 cm
Emily Moore is a London-based artist who recently graduated from MA Painting at the Royal College of Art, London. Moore’s practice explores her own term ‘wildness’ in contemporary painting, adopting an approach to the studio similar to that of a natural untamed landscape.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“Cocoon for me references the state I was in during the second lockdown. This piece is very playful and is a reference to my favourite story as a child ‘The very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle.The cocoon is made from materials like yarn, canvas and wire which I feel reflects my practice.”
- Emily Moore
Woodcutter Bell
2020
Brass
12.5 x 7 x 7 cm
‘The Woodcutter Bell’ is based on a fable called 'The Woodcutter and His Axe'. This fable tells the story of a woodcutter that works very hard each day, cutting down many trees. As time passes he finds he is not able to cut down as many as he originally could, however hard he tries. This is because he has not taken the time to sit and rest and sharpen his Axe.
The Axe represents our minds. If we do not take the time to rest our bodies and sharpen our tools we do not perform as well. This sculpture becomes a reminder of the importance to pause and take a moment to relax. It also lends itself to our current lockdown in which this stillness forces us to slow down and step back from our busy lives taking time to reflect and focus on what is important to us.
Camilla Bliss is currently studying sculpture at the Royal College of Art. Much of her work is made up from a personal language of symbols that often holds a narrative which can be entered from many angles. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally across many platforms”
Camilla Bliss is currently studying sculpture at the Royal College of Art. Much of her work is made up from a personal language of symbols that often holds a narrative which can be entered from many angles. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally across many platforms.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“The ‘Woodcutter Bell’ refers to a fable about a woodcutter who discovers that they can only perform to their maximum potential if they rest and sharpen their axe. For me, the act of chopping wood is as pure and meditative as the sound of a bell slowly chiming on each beat. If we slow down and pause we become more adept to our sensory surroundings.”
- Camilla Bliss
What's on the other side?, 2020
clay, quartz crystals, acrylic
15 x 15 cm
”The shape of this tiny sculpture resembles a snowflake which reminds the artist of harsh winters she used to enjoy, her favourite season when she was a kid. A snowflake's base is a circle which represents the infinite loop. Imagine yourself being stuck, when you can't find the way out and the only thing left for you is going round in circles, making the same mistakes over and over. But what's on the other side? How do we get out of this repeating, patterned life?”
Valerie Savchits (b. 1993, Latvia) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Brighton, UK. Since completing her studies at University of Salford in 2016, her work has been actively exhibited internationally and nationally including the Saatchi Gallery and Tate Modern. Taking inspiration from dystopian sci-fi, star atlases, science and nature books, her work is also often accompanied by text in the form of diary entries and excerpts from Russian literature.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“On boths sides of my snowflake sculpture is written ‘What’s on the other side?’: just imagine for a second a double-headed coin where each side simultaneously represents the end and a new beginning, yes or no, right or wrong. In my current body of work I explore paradoxes, concepts of the opposites and full circles as well as dualism's buffer zones, showing an eternal battle between evil and good, dark and light, death and life, dream and reality, and striving to destabilise those binaries and blur the existing borders.”
- Valerie Savichts
A Pending Constellation, 2020
12 Red Rawlplug, 2 White Flags, Sterling Silver loop, White Rope
16 x 50 x 2 cm
Pending Pending-------- Pending
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- Pending
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Milan Tarascas's practice is characterised by fragmented, non-linear narratives- making leaps between different places, times and contexts, inviting viewers to acknowledge complex relations and the inextricable connection between individual and society. His works/projects are improvised and experimental in nature, exploring the pull between the chaos and control in the process of their making.
Shipping
UK Shipping is £10. All orders will be processed the next working day and sent via courier.
For international orders we will contact you after purchase to arrange shipping costs.
For a limited time only anyone who collects their order directly from the gallery will receive a free San Mei t-shirt!
For guaranteed shipping before Christmas please order by Sunday 20 December for UK orders. International shipping times will vary. Orders completed after Sunday 20 December will be fulfilled from 4 January, as the gallery remains closed for the Christmas and New Year period.
“A Pending Constellation forms a recognizable pattern that is awaiting decision or settlement”
- Milan Tarascas