Five Hides is an exhibition presented by curatorial platform Thorp Stavri, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and through the continued support of Projekt and us! FAD Magazine. We managed to catch up with five of the exhibiting artists for a quick overview about them their work and what they will be exhibiting at Five Hides here we have Anousha Payne.
Anousha Payne Stretching downwards from her mouth courtesy the artist
1. For those that don’t know your work, can you tell us about your background and art practice?
I’m from London with Irish/Indian heritage – this is something that has come into my work a lot more recently as I’ve been reading a lot of Tamil and Irish folkloric stories. I have always been interested in story telling, but usually focus on short stories and modern literature. I have had more of a focus on female characters with magical powers recently – I think it kind of initially began as a way of connecting with my cultural heritage but also became a form of escapism in the lockdown – the stories evolved as I added to them and the characters as I was working on developed more (and became embodied by ceramic sculptures). I’m drawn to working with ceramics as I love the fact that you can either make work really fast, allowing the urgency to come into your work, or you can plan, slowly and steadily building a piece of work up, planning each section. It can really reflect how you are feeling at the time, the process becomes part of the work.
2. Can you tell us a bit about the work that is being shown at Five Hides
I’m interested in the idea of animism, the idea of objects having spiritual agency. The ceramics I make are often hybrid objects – half human half reptilian, as I think this allows us to get closer to the idea of animism.. Though they are static, I want them to feel as though they are on the verge of a movement. There’s also a larger terrazzo piece, which was kind of an expansion of my painting practise. Within my painting practise I try and apply the process of psychic automatism and free association, but allow some elements to become slightly more directed – like playing with freedom and control. I think there is so much freedom in a doodle, and I’m interested in the imagery that can take form subconsciously… I was also looking at ‘designed’ and ‘desired’ domestic objects, objects that have decisive cultural value or beauty, thinking about the material qualities of the spaces we surround ourselves by.
Anousha Payne Our heart tastes like apples (the crocodile’s wife) courtesy the artist
3. How does it feel to be able to exhibit larger works at a time when exhibition venues like Manor Place Baths are becoming harder and harder to come by?
Manor Place Bath’s is an interesting venue because of its rich and varied history – a gym, a spiritual centre, literally a place to cleanse… It’s also nice to see the work outside of a white cube space – it feels more gentle somehow.
Anousha Payne and she grew 2020 courtesy the artist
4. Have you made any plans for 2021? Are you feeling positive?
I have some residencies planned – my friend opened an amazing place called Casa Balandra in Mallorca, so the plan is to work on some larger ceramics there as it is situated in a small pottery town… but this all depends on Covid and travel restrictions etc. I also have solo a show at Cooke Latham Gallery in September 2021. I’m looking forward to working on a new body of work for this, especially as they also have incredibly high ceilings in the space.
Five Hides is on until – Sunday 11th October at 33 Manor Place London SE17 3BH The exhibition will be adhering to current social distancing guidelines. Masks will be required for entry, hand sanitizer will be provided and access to the exhibition space will be in limited capacity. All visits will require a free ticket, which can be booked HERE .
