A selection of works that offer a quiet refuge to the intensity of summer
Duke Christie | Maria-Aurelia Riese | Rachel Shaw Ashton | Naoko Tagai
Works on paper, porcelain and wood
Alongside Rachel Shaw Ashton, we are delighted to present works by three new artists: Naoko Tagai, Duke Christie and Maria-Aurelia Riese.
Maria-Aurelia Riese's butterfly prints are made with real butterflies that she collects at the end of their life cycle. Maria-Aurelia layers the butterflies onto the thin carbon paper, both depicting the fragility, the beauty and yet the darkness of life itself. Each print is unique, and preserves the butterfly as a method of remembering the past and feeling more deeply connected to the outdoor world that we often overlook.
Duke Christie’s wood sculptures are made with the natural materials which surround his home and studio in Scotland. Duke works with locally and sustainably sourced wood, amongst them Ash and Elm that had succumbed to the Dutch elm disease. His works are hand-sculpted, often echoing the movement of water and the serpentine course of the River Spey in Scotland. With a close attention to detail, Duke captures the majestic nature of the Scottish highlands, whilst highlighting the very essence of its perfect and imperfect forms.
jaggedart has been showing Rachel Shaw Ashton’s hand cut works since 2009. In these new botanical works, alliums, dandelions, hydrangeas and a variety of flowers are exquisitely shaped with scientific rigueur. Tiny petals, stems and leaves are meticulously cut and retain the lightness and dynamism of the figures in Rachel’s previous works.
A bearded iris inspired Naoko Tagai’s porcelain pieces for the show. Looking at a delicate single petal, she was struck by its translucency and luminosity as the light filtered through it and she marveled at how, despite its fragility, the petal held its shape with strength and perfection. Naoko began thinking about the intelligence of Mother Nature, how this delicate flower, and other plants like it, and the functionality of thorns, tentacles and tendrils which act as a form of intuitive defence for the plant - a means of survival. The pressing of soft clay into the palms of her hands to create each individual petal and its spikes is a meditation, a time for reflection. Naoko Tagai was born in Kyoto, Japan, and is currently based in London. She gained MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal college of Art.
