‘Light streaming over me, into me, filling the room’, 2020

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A series of embroidered lanterns and mirrors with lino cut prints on paper. 

28cm x 15cm x 15cm (lantern), 30cm x 40cm (mirror)

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The exhibition is being held at Good Grief Studios in Hobart/nipaluna from the 14th to the 21st of August 2020. The exhibition is in support of the current 'Art Can't Stop' Project facilitated by Arts Tasmania. 

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https://www.goodgriefstudios.com

 

In ‘light streaming over me, into me, filling the room’, Phoebe Beard has crafted three lanterns out of denim, twine and tartan. The lanterns contain six lino-cut prints that have reappropriated six biblical scenes from Baroque and Romantic-era paintings created from 1617 to 1819. She has equipped chiaroscuro as a technique to illuminate the figures of Jesus Christ and Caiaphas during the dark tale of Christ’s trial before the Sanhedrin. The scenes depict moments of personal sacrifice and servitude, exploring light as a symbol of protection.
 

Beard’s interest in religious narratives arise from her investigations into cultural associations of wheat and pagan rituals. The historical function of scarecrows as effigies, and the light of a lantern, are both instruments used to guard plots of land. The burning of straw sculptures refer to parties and processions intrinsic to Slavic and Celtic folklore, where celestial and mythological gods are celebrated as omens of a bountiful harvest.

Matt Siddall

 

Matt Siddall is a writer and emerging curator who lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne, originally from Boorloo/Perth.