And if from the point of view of the human eye, montage is undoubtedly a construction, from the point of view of another eye, it ceases to be one; it is the purest vision of a non-human eye, of an eye which would be in things”

Studio 106 Art Gallery is delighted to announce Eyelies, a solo exhibition by artist Clara Clark.

Eyelies explores discrepancies between perception and reality, i.e. the building of a construct in the viewer’s mind and the mechanism of the making. The newly made sculptures were developed from an ongoing investigation into the way darkness can create the illusion of vast space.

Clark is fascinated by a theory on perception and representation. Because the world presents the brain with too much visual information to absorb at once, most of what we see is actually made up. Only taking in a small percentage, the brain fills in the gaps with what is expected.

Clark’s work is articulated around the subsequent idea that if the main visual elements of an easily recognised phenomenon are recreated, a convincing image will manifest itself in one’s mind, despite obvious signs of artificiality.

The viewer hence feels a sense of spatial reorientation and transportation away from the exhibition setting into a kind of other world, absorbing an alternative order of things.

Yet, these illusions are never fully convincing. Both makeshift and extravagant, the actual materiality that creates the imaginary scene, blights it almost immediately as the viewer differentiates the real from the imaginary. In fine, this paradoxical relationship is central to the process and of the work.

Mechanics and practical features are an inherent and visible part of the external structure, allowing viewers to see how it operates, building an interesting juxtaposition between the materiality of the form and the wistful illusion it creates.

Using DIY methods and ad hoc materials to replicate the main visual information, Clark constructs viewpoints of cities, outer space, the sea, rolling hills etc. Suddenly and only momentarily, one finds oneself in an unexpected predicament, stranded in the middle of the ocean or standing on a narrow ramp thousands of feet above a city.

Clara Clark lives and works in London. Solo exhibitions include ‘Through The looking’, The Sassoon Gallery, London March 2007  ‘Re-Creation’, Standpoint Gallery, September 2008, London (Mark Tanner Sculpture Prize Winner’s Exhibition); Space Ship’, The Salt Gallery, , March 2008, Cornwall. Group shows include Echoes of Other Worlds, The Stables Gallery, (Orleans Park), October 2010, London. Shoehorn, Crimestown Gallery, March 2009, London. Clara Clark graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2010.

http://www.claraclark.co.uk/ www.studio106artgallery.org

Eyelies is part of Pivotal Shifts, a project supported by The Arts Council England, London.