Voltz Clarke Gallery is pleased to present 1:8, an exhibition of recent sculpture by Sasha Sykes. The gallery will host an opening reception with the artist in attendance on Thursday, November 8th from 6-8 pm.
Sasha Sykes is best known for her resin-based creations that incorporate unusual organic and locally found materials from her home in Ireland. Working in clear resin allows the artist to showcase delicate elements of nature while also preserving their state under the sturdy protector. Each of her creations is as original as the veins of the leaves contained inside of them.
For 1:8, Sykes is presenting three series of sculpture: Life Lessons, Pond & Puddle, and Camping. Each theme has it’s own contents consisting of gold leaf, flowers, and grasses. The show will focus on a major work from each series together with groupings of models consistent with the theme of the full-sized sculptures. The title of the exhibition derives from the proportion of the models to the larger works.
Sykes reflects, ‘My work is primarily influenced by the scale, approach and aesthetic of the Irish landscape. I like to explore the cycle of life and decay, and the dichotomy of fragility and preservation. I am particularly interested in mankind’s relationship with our surroundings, and expressing the nature of that interaction is central to my work. I like to work with unusual organic and locally found materials; eg, wildflowers and thistles from the Wicklow mountains, mosses and lichens from Carlow or seaweeds and shells from the south & west coasts. Together, objects such as these tell intimate stories about the physical locality as well as shedding light on the values and priorities of people living in the area. This combination of the natural habitat and man’s influence shape and color everything in our world.’
Sykes’ art is found in numerous private and public collections such as the National Museum of Ireland (Collins Barracks) as well as prestigious hotels and corporate headquarters: Carton House, the Cliff House Hotel and Bank of America. The New York Times stated that Sykes’ art is ‘for people who live in the city but dream of the country’.
