Exhibition display of Klara Kristalova's 2D work
I first came across Klara Kristalova's work in Copenhagen at the Gammel Strand gallery. Sue and I had decided to have a short break back in I think 2017 and entering the gallery was an unexpected pleasure, in particular in relation to how Kristalova's work was displayed. Her 2D ideas were shown alongside her ceramics, in such as way that the drawings didn't seem secondary to the 3D making, they both held their own space and the narrative impact was very strong, as there were a lot of ideas all being shown at once. The gallery space in effect became Kristalova's world. I liked that and I felt an immediate affinity with her way of working.
Portrait of a young girl
Horse girl at night
Summer breeze
I like the way that an image of hair being blown over a face, as in 'Summer breeze' can be made to feel as if the head is suffering an attack from some alien creature. By simply thickening the strands of hair, they become octopus like tentacles.
Exhibition display of Klara Kristalova's ceramic work
The black painted wooden structure above which she used to show a range of ceramic figures in the Gammel Strand gallery, was just one of several approaches she has taken to presenting her work.
Strange Clay
Her work in 'Strange Clay' inhabited an artificial landscape, as if creatures from a fairy tale were becoming 'real', whilst in another exhibitions she has used a cabinet to house her work and tables and chairs as surfaces for both display and interaction with her ceramic figures.
Cabinet display
Each approach suggests a slightly different reading of her work and this is something I realise I need to explore myself. In particular I want to be able to exhibit my ceramics alongside my drawings, in such a way that they support each other. Lighting is also very important and by putting lighting into the cabinet above, her work is intensified and given a relic like aura.
The sleep of dreams: A response to Goya
Woman / Bat hybrid
I'm drawn to hybrid forms, so the woman / bat image above, like so many of Kristalova's images, intrigues me. The clay holds the image, but in its very malleability, it also suggests that this is but one moment in a series of changes that the figure is making. You may feel that the days of the fairy tale are over, but I beg to differ, and would suggest that the more we head into uncertain times, the more we will need new tales and fables, both as an escape from reality and as a way to develop new stories, designed to tell allegories and parables, that might at some point, help us to find ourselves again.
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