Tuesday 9th May: NOW Gallery - "Harmonics In Space" - Equinox Dinner

To mark the opening of my show "Harmonics In Space" at NOW Gallery we hosted a dinner to celebrate the Spring Equinox.  As the theme for my show was all about healing via colour, light, sound, movement and shape it was the perfect time to coincide with nature's very own gift of the dawn of the new bright season.

We engineered the event on the topic of "Design for Wellbeing" by inviting a collection of practitioners working in the realm of design to enhance life.  After an initial viewing of the exhibition, we headed upstairs for a Spring feast served in Sophie Ashby’s designed apartment.  I had decorated the tables with my iridescent origami lights and as much spectrum crockery as I could source.  The florists Augustus Bloom tied beautiful seasonal bouquets as big centre pieces which divided up as separate posies for guests to take home.  These included Ranunculus, anemones and a sprinkle highlight of cosmic rainbow roses on my own personal request!

The night was hosted by designer Anna Murray from Patternity who led a discussion looking at the importance of design to improve our everyday lives.  She initially explained her own personal discovery and journey into wellness and described her daily routine employing techniques to embrace meditation and positive patterns within her schedule.  Guests then took turns with a "show and tell" of treasured items to share the story of the importance of their own sentimental attachments.  

At the end of the night everyone had the opportunity to take an incredible keep-sake in the form of this box of chocolates.  I made holographic origami containers to house Vegan truffles made by the fair hands of Lena Romain a.k.a Jus' A Lickle Taste.  She made four different flavours and each of these had a list of ingredients ranging from Nutmeg, pistachio, coconut, rum to ginger.......... all ridiculously complex and yummy!  The edible summation of my exhibition with the many facets and layers of textures and stimuli.  

For the special occasion I wore a complete activewear outfit from the range by Patternity for John Lewis.  New patterns and designs have been added since it first launched so head over to the website to see more here.  

(Photos a mix of my own, Anna Murray and official shots by Tom Hatton)

Thursday 3rd April: NOW Gallery - "Harmonics In Space" official photos Part 2

Here it is!  The final official photographs of my show "Harmonics In Space" = my destination for healing inspired by Rudolph Laban’s theory with exhibition design by Install Archive . Every minute detail from the steel brackets to the enormity of the dichroic screen, through to the electronics of the lighting and motion was invented, developed and fabricated by Lee. He suggested we interpret my origami in card for this massive scale to keep the quality of craft. He read my mind from day one and took it to a new dimension I didn’t know was possible. The other-world I’m always aiming to create landed like a psychedelic meteorite shower at Now Gallery.

Thanks to Charles Emerson for going beyond the call of duty in putting in extra hours to capture the installation over all the variations of light from dawn to dusk.  Thanks also to Hester Connell who hid herself within the installation during the night shoot to keep on the lights by crouching on the trigger panels.

To read more into my concept / manifesto for the show, head over to the gallery website for a breakdown of each element here.  This includes: SHAPE, COLOUR, LIGHT, MAKE, LISTEN, BE.

Wednesday 2nd April: NOW Gallery - "Harmonics In Space" official photos

From my previous work-in-progress snaps of making and installing my exhibition "Harmonics In Space" at NOW Gallery to some of the official photographs to document the process.  Photographer Casey Moore joined us one morning during the final stages to capture me within the space as it unfolded.  Here I am with the team from Install Archive who designed the exhibition and led the actual build of everything from the mechanics, electrics to the giant origami.  We even collaborated on perspex platters cut into Polyhedra for a dinner event which I used as a prop in this image at the top.  I love it when a plan comes together!  See all the fun moving animations we made over on my Tumblr here.

Wednesday 25th April: "Harmonics In Space" at NOW Gallery = Work In Progress cont.

After a lengthy hiatus here, I'm back!  The exhibition has been all-consuming and now as the final run draws to an end I can catch up with documenting it.  Here is a visual diary of snaps from installing with exhibition design team Install Archive.  First of all we worked offsite in a nearby warehouse preparing components which were then transported to the gallery for the site-specific build.  For example here you can see the foam tiles being made for the tessellating floor and the steel frame joinery being polished and painted.  There were so many elements, materials and mechanics to assemble that it was like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle.  

We first had to construct the origami cardboard sculptures to get them suspended with lights fitted and hoisted on their spinning motors.   This then gave clear ground to lay down and make the pyramid entry screen to be raised up in place and tied into position.  Once the floor was finally free the steel stepping-stone frame could be fitted into place starting from front to back.  With the foam tiles slotted into the colour order of the path, the last stage was to add the free-standing sculptures and wire everything in.  In addition to the lighting and hidden trigger panels we also had to devise and conceal a bluetooth system to run 25 separate wireless headphones.  Last but not least, apply all of the vinyl from the text on the walls to my hand-cut iridescent polyhedra on the windows............... 

Every detail was intricate and linked.  Even the individual cardboard panels were coded with pop-out shapes which collected as cosmic confetti and didn't get swept into the bin but carefully collected for my scrapbook.  Here I am captured trying to explain all of this verbally for a couple of the numerous interviews I had to eloquently deliver after completion.  See my interview with The Peninsulist here.  

Wednesday 25th April: "Harmonics In Space" at NOW Gallery = Origami

As part of my exhibition there is a space to take time to make origami. I have created an exclusive colourful mystic mascot to match your mood. This extra dimension to the immersive experience was included to give visitors creative space to switch off, contemplate and make. Whilst learning the lines to fold this finger puppet you can simultaneously get a taster of how I first designed the origami shapes which became the final sculptures.  Each paper sheet is colour coded with definitions to pick the hue which best describes you.  In addition to this, there are stickers to customise your cosmic creature to keep as a magic memento of your day.

Thanks to OhhDeer for the collaboration on the sticker sheets which was a dream come true as I'm still as obsessed with collecting stickers as I was when I had sticker albums as a kid!  Check out their full range here.