ARDEN + WHITE is pleased to announce the gallery’s first exhibition of works by Gwen Hardie, Clementine Maconachie, and Molly Haynes since joining the artists' roster earlier this year.
The presentation will survey works by these three artists who operate with a range of mediums. Volume considers the facets that contribute to an artwork's overall aesthetic and impact. The show considers how art occupies the physical spaces around them and the perceived depth of the three-dimensional and two-dimensional qualities that they express.
The paintings defy their two-dimensional boundaries with Hardie employing techniques that create an illusion of depth and invite viewers to question the limitations of their visual experience through a series of optical sensations. Through the use of perspective, shading, and color, the paintings seem to expand beyond their frames.
In conversation with Hardie’s works are sculptures by Haynes and Maconachie. Though the two sculptors use entirely different mediums both express an apt understanding of space and volume. Haynes’ sculptures echo sentiments of organic matter with the artist’s use of unconventional materials such as raw plant fiber and salvaged marine ropes to conceive trance-like environments with no definitive start or endpoints. The woven pieces on view are indicative of Haynes’ ongoing desire to disrupt the traditions of textile art with a level of wildness that is achieved through the use of sustainable and tactile materials.
Maconachie’s contorted wall reliefs ebb and flow like changing tides with both force and simplicity. Using the weight of her own body the artist cold-bends wabi-sabi steel into calming undulations resulting in a spatial richness. These folded organic shapes create a gentle study contrasting the nature of their raw materials.
Volume is an exhibition centered on dimensionality, depth, and physical space with an amalgamation of captivating paintings and sculptures. Hardie, Haynes, and Maconachie explore the interplay between form, space, and materials allowing viewers to expand their perception of the multidimensional nature of artistic expression.
GWEN HARDIE
Gwen Hardie studied art at the Edinburgh College of Art before living and working in London and Berlin before settling in New York City in 2000. Throughout her career, Hardie has been awarded residences at The Bogliasco Foundation in Italy, (2015 and 2006), Yaddo, MacDowell, and the VCCA in America. In 1990, she became the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh. Hardie’s work is in private and public collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the British Council, London, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Modern Collection, Lisbon.
MOLLY HAYNES
Molly Haynes earned her B.F.A. in Textiles at the Rhode Island School of Design and went on to design for the interior textiles industry, where she gained a deep understanding of fibers and the construction of cloth. After several years, she decided to delve into her practice to focus solely on handmade works that are free of utilitarian constraints.
CLEMENTINE MACONACHIE
Sydney-based visual artist, Clementine Maconachie embraces the beauty of imperfection, balancing the physical process of using her body weight to hand cut or cold-bend metals and stone, with a juxtaposing end product that explores softness and organic shape.
Volume opens on July 1 and will run through August 20, 2023.
