Louise Meuwissen x Ebony Russel
The Artificial Kingdom - An altar to excess
2020
Porcelain, glaze, luster, imitation pearls, glass, swarovski crystals, plastic, pearls, quartz crystal, leaded crystal, felted acrylic, polyester thread, battery operated neon LED lights
29 x 20 x 21 cm
The Artificial Kingdom - An altar to excess is a devotional grotto, constructed entirely of surface. Opulent and excessive, this collaborative work considers how contemporary culture encourages us to believe that spiritual fulfilment can be attained through material accumulation. This trapping of late-capitalism is a concern in our respective practices, and comes together to create a shrine without an icon that suggests the hollow fantasy of hyperconsumption.
Adopting the grotto motif, The Artificial Kingdom explores how this natural phenomenon and spiritual form has been used for worship and ornamentation for centuries, through a contemporary and kitsch reinterpretation. Kitsch is transportative, allowing transcendence to the realm of myth - foundational in our individual and collective consciousness. An aestheticised divine.
Like the foaming Birth of Venus, consumer-goods have a miraculous nature - appearing fully formed, completely removed from their creation. Our work is meticulously handcrafted through meditative processes, underpinned by the uneasy relationship between labour and luxury.
Over-laden to the point of being burdened by its own structure, the piped-porcelain layers and ostentatious embellishment verge on literal collapse. Paying homage to religious work and drawing on art history, The Artificial Kingdom is informed by aspiration and the fantastic - landing somewhere between reverie and grotesque.
Documentation by Simon Hewson