Private View: Saturday, 4th January 2025, 3-6pm
London (Wandsworth)
Luminous orbs, floating figures and phosphorescent forms. Delicate Beings, London-based artist fuchsia’s first solo exhibition, transports us into a glittering, oceanic world where hypnotic visions emerge from and dissolve back into the depths. Drawing on the ecological significance and cultural symbolism of corals and shells, fuchsia’s paintings celebrate these ethereal marine invertebrates as powerful sources of light, energy, and life. These works encourage us to reflect on the fragile beauty of marine ecosystems and our spiritual connection to the sea.
A musician and self-taught artist, fuchsia describes her practice as a journey into the unknown, a way to find clarity and reconnect with a deeper sense of self that is intertwined with an appreciation for and connectedness with nature. As such, her compositions draw on the shapes and patterns of fauna and flora as well as spiritual iconography. For instance, in this show, angel-like figures appear, both in the paintings and in a series of sculptures, as the spirits of the sea while diamond-shaped beams of light allude to celestial powers.
The corals and shells also take on an other-worldly presence, underscoring their vital ecological role in providing shelter, regulating ecosystems, and protecting coastlines. In one work, a conch shell rises like a deity from a wash of sparkling blue and green. Its bumpy surface appears almost pearlescent while its opening becomes like a portal to a different realm of which the two cherubs to its left serve as guardians. Elsewhere, the sea bed is imagined as a lush, magical garden with glittering pools and streams, or as a womb-like space that cradles a rich variety of life forms. Heavily textured areas of paint reinforce this bodily presence, the movement of currents and the uneven surface of corals and shells while a warm earthy colour palette is contrasted with watery hues and touches of fluorescence. In one small painting, a crusty formation of coral rises up out a bubbling green sea that alludes to a supernatural atmosphere, but also to sickness, reflecting once again on the precarious state of our seas.
This balance between light and dark, fertility and degradation is central to fuchsia’s work. ‘There is so much doom and gloom in conversations around climate change. In my work, I want to acknowledge the issues without letting fear take over. These are paintings that ultimately try to share hope,’ she says. To this end, fuchsia has used marine biologist Tim Lamont’s field recordings of thriving coral reefs to create immersive soundscapes, enveloping visitors in the exhibition’s world. Painted motifs expand onto the gallery walls, while coral sculptures on the floor encourage a slower, more mindful navigation of the space.
Delicate Beings invites us not only to marvel at the treasures hidden beneath the waves, but to understand marine life as essential to the physical and spiritual sustenance of our world.
