FROM JANUARY 6 TO JANUARY 28 2024

DESCRIPTION REFLECTIONS

Reflections is a collective exhibition by Tomas Hed, Kristina Huxley and Jane Birchall.

Reflections of what is given here, in our world, but also reflections of what is beyond and impossible to grasp.

Tomas Hed, with a more dramatic approach this time, presents (mis)conceptions of our daily mayhem but also delves into the unknown that somehow we all feel inhabits us. Black canvases open up spaces that escape the usual scenery and allow narratives to be discovered and interpreted. Using Goya as a reference for some of his paintings, he also explores the limitations of a world made up of our senses and the surrounding darkness.

Kristina Huxley participates with two paintings, Cataclysm I and Cataclysm II. With her artwork, one can clearly see “reflections” as a plain mirror and, at the same time, as an active generator of new, interactive and expanding realities. At first sight, one might consider her paintings calm and still, but at a second glance, they become catalysts for debate, reactions and interactions. In other words, one can feel the transience in the permanent surface of the canvas.

Jane Birchall takes part in the show with ceramics. In her Lava Collection, textures and colours remind us of the natural beauty of Gozo; intense, arid and overwhelming. Each piece is unique and cannot be replicated; hand built in stoneware with multiple layers of glaze and several firings. They are named for an area or an event that it is associated with. The style of her ceramics is elegant, fragile and imposing at once.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

TOMAS HED

Tomas, originally from Sweden, lives in Gozo, where he lets his imagination and creativity go wild. Here he has found his place to exploit his talents: composing music and painting. He worked for many years as an Art Director in Stockholm, having his own studio in Gamla Stan, the old part of the city.

Always polemical, provocative and with strong opinions, it’s impossible to be indifferent to his creations. The spirit of his art is inspired by an indomitable character, with a special obsession for challenging values, or “bubbles” as he calls them, of our daily life.

KRISTINA HUXLEY

Kristina is a graduate of The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at Oxford University, UK and National College of Art and Design in Dublin. She is also a Leverhulme Scholar and worked as a research student at The Bergen Academy of Art and Design. She has exhibited widely: her work is held in Irish and International public and private collections and was recently acquired by the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Arts Centre in Latvia and The Arts Council of Ireland. She has been the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards and completed artist in residencies at The Mark Rothko Museum in Daugavpils, Latvia and the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Ireland. She works as a lecturer in NCAD, Dublin.

Kristina Huxley has been making site sensitive paintings and installations since 1995. Her work responds to its environment and encounters with the viewer. Living within expected stillness, her paintings continuously change or are restless offering different images throughout a period of brief time or in relation to the position of the viewer within the gallery.

 JANE BIRCHALL

Jane is hugely influenced by nature, and the organic shapes found within, particularly the ebb and flow of water and the textures created throughout its journey.  Her extensive travels have meant that she has been fortunate to be based within the sight of the sea on many continents: from the sunny shores of California to the golden coast of Sharjah, UAE, and now after many years of Lakeland life in the North of England, the tiny rugged island of Gozo, Malta is to be called home.

Having studied at the American college for Art and Design in Los Angeles and following a career in fashion and decor, Jane now feels that being mainly self-taught in ceramics over the years frees her from the traditional constraints of formal processes. This freedom allows her to explore techniques uninhibited by preconception and brave the unknown.  She constantly experiments with mixed clay bodies, forms, glazes and oxides and strives for a unique shape or unusual combination of finish. Jane’s work is mainly sculptural and decorative although some of her vessels may be used a functional ware.