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My work balances figurative aspects with material
qualities, echoing the subjects of my ongoing fascination—that
of transformation and metamorphosis in both physical and psychological
dimensions.
Recently I’ve been using clay and multiple glazes, with a focus on strange
equivalents of nature—anthropomorphising carrots, cacti and corn,
that are often depicted in the midst of transformation and thus existing
in the liminal space between more than one physical or psychological
state.
The extraordinary variety in nature, extended through selective breeding
and genetic modification, has informed these characters that seem to
coalesce between the credible and the impossible, the alluring and the
repellent. By harnessing the hybridity of the grotesque as a powerful
force to disrupt expectations and resist the tools of ‘normalisation’,
the work aims to embrace the recognition of broader varieties of being
and expression.
Perceptions are challenged and the work is deliberately left open to
enable multiple interpretations, as embodied by the psychological phenomenon
‘pareidolia’ where the mind perceives an image where there is none e.g.
the man in the moon.
Whilst the recent focus has been on ceramic sculpture, my investigation
of the space between the actual and the fictitious is explored through
both sculptural form and work on paper in storyboard-like formats, single
‘panel’ drawings and watercolours.
— Kim L Pace
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A Fantastic Fermentation of Matter is the
first solo exhibition by British artist Kim L Pace at Danielle Arnaud.
It brings together several bodies of new work in ceramics, watercolour
and digital print that explore Pace’s ongoing interest in magic, transformation
and metamorphosis.
Pace’s works are characteristically inhabited by
fictitious characters—invented by the artist—that draw upon mythology,
art history, literature and contemporary subcultures. Recently the artist
has been focusing on plant and animal life, anthropomorphising carrots,
cacti and corn. At first sight these brightly coloured watercolours
and richly textured ceramics evoke a happy harvest scene. This is undone
however by the character’s wasted limbs and gaping mouths, that take
Pace’s ongoing exploration of the grotesque to comic excess.
Pace has a long-standing interest in comics; she
originated the touring exhibition Cult Fiction, Art & Comics
for the Hayward Gallery, London in 2007. This interest is evident in
the format of her ‘collages’, which typically comprise 8 frames or panels
on A0 sized watercolour paper. Evoking a storyboard or comic book format,
the different frames incorporate Pace’s own invented characters, appropriated
material and abstract shapes. Rather than develop a coherent narrative
however, the works withhold literal representation—the figures and objects
contained within hint at connections that are open to endless interpretation.
Pace’s ongoing exploration into the divergence between
the actual and the fictitious has led her to develop a distinctive way
of working that merges analogue and digital processes. Beginning initially
with pen and paper, her compositions coalesce on the computer—a space
not unlike the comic where natural laws are suspended, and inanimate
objects can come to life. She is interested in how the transformations
her characters engender may offer a different understanding of our place
in the world.
The exhibition title is taken from Bruno Schulz’s
1934 short story, Treatise on Tailors Dummies.
An accompanying
essay by writer and
curator Angela Kingston will be available as
part of the exhibition.
Kim L Pace is an artist who divides
her time between St Leonards and London, where she currently lectures
in Contextual Practice at Wimbledon, The University of the Arts London.
She worked in advertising briefly, prior to studying BA(hons) in Fine
Art, Painting and MA Fine Art, Sculpture in the UK & Germany. Subsequently,
she has been awarded four artist fellowships and many other awards,
including from public bodies and several private trusts. She has also
undertaken international artist residencies in the USA and Norway. Her
work has been featured in the Guardian Guide, Frieze magazine, Art Monthly
and The Boston Globe.
Kim exhibits nationally and internationally: her
solo exhibitions include Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; Graves Art Gallery,
Sheffield; Limerick City Art Gallery, Ireland; Bonington Gallery, Nottingham;
Northern Territory Gallery for Contemporary Art, Australia; McLean County
Arts Center, USA; Domobaal, London; APT, London; Berwick Gymnasium Gallery,
Northumbria; Phoenix Gallery, Brighton; Solaris, St Leonards, East Sussex;
Austrian Cultural Forum, London* & FSFA Boston, USA (*2 person).
In 2007 she curated the touring exhibition Cult
Fiction - Art & Comics for Hayward Gallery, London, for which
she was also commissioned to make new work. She is currently developing
her first ‘visual’ novel; an extract of which is featured in ‘The Inking
Woman’ 250 years of women comic artists, published by Myriad Editions,
March 2018.
Angela Kingston is a contemporary
visual arts curator and writer. She has curated exhibitions including
‘3am: Wonder, Paranoia and the Restless Night’, touring from Bluecoat,
Liverpool (2013-14), ‘The First Humans’, touring from Pump House, London
(2015-16) and 'Is This Planet Earth?' touring from Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham
(2018-19).
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