Zoe Preece, In Reverence

Zoe Preece – In Reverence

Saturday 20 November 2021 - Sunday 6 March 2022
10:30 am - 4:00 pm

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is delighted to present this new body of work by Cardiff based artist, Zoe Preece, who uses the domestic realm as the site of her inspiration and inquiry.

Preece has made a series of ordinary domestic objects intricately carved by hand from porcelain or turned from plaster on a lathe (a machine that spins at speed from which plaster forms can be carved). Once she has made the object using the lathe, she then creates a mould and casts it in liquid porcelain. This intricate process results in fragile and beautifully crafted objects which attempt to engage with the intangible, unsettling and tender aspects of domestic life.

Alongside the porcelain are sculptural furniture pieces made from walnut, with moulded forms such as tea towels folded upon them or an open book. These have been made in collaboration with professional furniture maker Jennifer Finnegan, and Fablab Cardiff, using their 3D scanning processes and CNC milling technologies. Each piece, whether ceramic or wood, is meticulously made and takes many hours to create.

For the artist, the repetitive and unseen activity of her craft resonates with the ceaseless, invisible domestic labour undertaken usually by women, within the home, such as cleaning, care work and bringing up children. It is this often unnoticed and undervalued home work that Preece tries to capture in this installation. There is something uncanny and unsettling about the installation, which lies beneath the perfection of the craftsmanship. Perhaps a domestic scene where something has taken place which we were not witness to; an atmosphere created by these ghost like objects and their surrounding space.

Another theme which Preece returns to in her practice, is her consideration of the value we place on the functional objects we use in our everyday lives. Through her work she elevates simple kitchenware and furniture to the status of artworks to be contemplated not simply for their form and function, but their social purpose and the stories they embody.

This exhibition will tour to Aberystwyth Arts Centre (Ceredigion, Wales) and Oriel Plas Glyn Y Weddw (Gwynedd, Wales)

This exhibition was funded by an Arts Council of Wales Production Grant.