This Myth We Make
Curated by Natalie Kane
21st May - 1st June 2022
SET Lewisham, London
Exhibition Poster by Semiklisee and Anouska Samms
(from left to right) Big Mother, 2022, 2m x 2.5m, human hair, yarn, cotton, Dark, 2022, 30cm x 32cm, human hair, cotton, textured stoneware, pumice gel, Vessel 12, 2022, 9cm x 8.5cm, human hair, cotton, stoneware, Vessel 14, 2022, 9.5cm x 10.5cm, human hair, cotton, stoneware, Vessel 16, 2022, 12cm x 8cm, artist’s own hair, air dry clay, nail varnish, cotton, Vessel 10, 2021, 12cm x 16cm, human hair, glazed iron rich stoneware, air dry clay, Vessel 9, 2021, 9cm x 13cm, human hair, glazed iron rich stoneware, air-dry clay, Light, 2020, 41cm x 27cm, human hair, synthetic hair, air dry clay, cotton. Photograph by Benjamin Swanson(from left to right) Angel, 2020, 10cm x 12cm, human hair, air dry clay, (This vessel was made to be exhibited alongside the film, It’s Not Perverse, It’s Mothers, (14mins, 2022)), Film: It’s Not Perverse, It’s Mothers (14mins, 2022), digital, Big Mother, 2022, 2m x 2.5m, human hair, yarn, cotton. Photograph by Benjamin Swanson
(from left to right) Dark, 2022, 30cm x 32cm, human hair, cotton, textured stoneware, pumice gel, Vessel 6, 2020, synthetic hair, cotton, glazed stoneware, 10cm x 25cm, Vessel 12, 2022, 9cm x 8.5cm, human hair, cotton, stoneware, Vessel 14, 2022, 9.5cm x 10.5cm, human hair, cotton, stoneware, Vessel 16, 2022, 12cm x 8cm, artist’s own hair, air dry clay, nail varnish, cotton, Vessel 10, 2021, 12cm x 16cm, human hair, glazed iron rich stoneware, air dry clay, Vessel 9, 2021, 9cm x 13cm, human hair, glazed iron rich stoneware, air-dry clay, Light, 2020, 41cm x 27cm, human hair, synthetic hair, air dry clay, cotton, Mini-Me, 2022, human hair, cotton, glazed stoneware, 14cm x 18cm. Photograph by Benjamin Swanson
PRESS RELEASE
Presented as one body of work, Anouska Samms’ groups together film, sculpture and weaving to express the familial ‘myths’ we consciously or unconsciously adopt to communicate our love for others.
Using materials such as clay and hair, a matrilineal ritual across five generations of women in Samms’ family, including the artist herself, is examined. All of the humour and messiness that exists within intergenerational and maternal connection is revealed. What do we make literal and physical as a way to stay attached to family, heritage and those unknown identities within ourselves?
The relationship between hair and clay is explored in Samms’ dysfunctional containers, where pots morph into unstable vessels through this combination. Both are organic materials, endlessly malleable with a history of tradition, function and meaning. Clay, transformative matter that inherits the quality of the ground it is removed from, can create vessels from the ceremonial to the mundane, while from hair, the mitochondrial DNA within the shaft is passed from a pregnant parent to their children. How these two materials meet invites the viewer to contemplate the deep rooted generational expressions that inform the work.