mimi
Aileen Stackhouse
13th October - 10th November 2001
This exhibition ran parallel with Aileen's PHD research programme at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Dundee. mimi examined the motivations, emotions and working practices of the artist as they strive to complete an art "work". Aileen used the space as an 'Art Laboratory' to "conduct (one of) a sequence of new works that will follow the premise of think it - do it." Stackhouse worked in the gallery for four weeks to produce the work. mimi took the form of a series of wall drawings executed in fine pencil lines that covered the entire surface of the gallery walls.
The drawings referred to the inner world and sensations of the artist and took the form of an action as their execution was open to the audience. They provided a space for both the artist and audience to inhabit, observe, interact and experiment. Over the course of the exhibition Stackhouse also introduced other sculptural elements into the space as she worked and reacted to the environment.
Her fine pencil drawings toyed with visual perception and spatial perspective, conjuring the imagined, mystical and the invisible. The word mimi refers to the Aboriginal belief in worlds parallel to our own: 'mimis' belong to an 'other world' and are said to live in the rocks. This belief in parallel worlds' is echoed in Scottish culture through the tradition of travellers referring to the land as existing between this world and heaven, neither one place or the other. The ephemeral quality of the work reflected on art as a "process" and touched on other themes such as the role of artist as 'cultural worker' and the voyeuristic appeal of the 'art gallery'.
Supported by Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee
Installation View
Installation View
Installation View
Aileen Stackhouse
