Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld

Ice is the name of an exhibition by Fluer Heartsdale Chun (Fluer Heartsdale), now on display at the Artist in Residence gallery at InterstellART. This is a fascinating exhibition of real-life photography focused – as the title suggests – the subject of ice.

My journey into art began many years ago as a child while watching my grandmother paint. I experimented with many different mediums before falling in love with photography. Photography allows me to capture the world as I see it and show it to others.

– Fluer Heartsdale Chun discussing her art.

While perhaps in keeping with the time of year (at least in the northern hemisphere!), ice is also unique subject for photography, it is a unique substance, able to present itself in many different ways and forms, Fluer’s images demonstrate this, as well as revealing her eye and talent as a photographer.

When looking around my eye is drawn to the hidden and often overlooked common objects that surround us. With the aid macro lens I am able to capture and bring to light that which is often overlooked.

– Fluer Heartsdale Chun discussing her art.

Often seen as a colourless, sometimes clear, sometimes cloudly creation and generally thought of as smooth and evenly surfaced, ice can in fact be alive with both colour and form. Individual crystals are multi-faceted; they are both delicate and yet tremendously strong when unified. When we look at a surface of ice, it can be like looking into a frosted pane of glass or seeing the roll of waves on a pond or observing a limb of the Moon. All this and more is perfectly captured in the images Fleur presents within this exhibition.

With my macro lens I am able to take close-up photos which show that there is much more to ice than is visible to the naked eye. In the future I will collecting water from different sources to freeze and photograph, so that I may document any difference in how they freeze and photograph.

– Fluer Heartsdale Chun discussing her art.

This is a truly unique set of photographs, and one I thoroughly recommend seeing for yourself. When visiting, I would also suggest setting your viewer to midnight to fully appreciate the photos.

SLurl Details

• InterstellART (Nice Atoll, rated: Moderate)

Now open on the mezzanine level of Club LA and Gallery, curated by Fuyuko ‘冬子’ Amano (Wintergeist), is an intriguing exhibition by Joss Floss.

Fracture Facture (or possibly just Fracture) is an unusual curio of a piece that defies attempts to quantify it – which I tend to think is intentional. It is also very cleverly presented, mixing 2D and 3D elements that I suspect in places are both slightly tongue-in-cheek whilst simultaneously intended to challenge perceptions.

What amounts to eight individual pieces are arranged around the walls and on the floor, each presenting a very specific vignette, starting with (in terms of being nearest to the stairs up to the level), the titular piece Fracture. No liner notes are provided to the exhibition or to the individual pieces, so interpretation is purely in the eyes of the beholder.

For my part (and given the way my mind works), I felt several of the pieces perhaps carry a subtext on the subject of identity, which rage from how we perceive our worth in life, to the manner in which some may objectify others, unable to see them as individuals, through to a need to reinforce ego, with (perhaps) a metaphor for our lives always in a state of flux (or perhaps “repair”). Another of the pieces struck me (whether intentional or not) as gently mocking the more highbrow approach to art, as it put me in mind of the over-inflated view taken of a certain English artist’s “autobiographical” work. However, I do emphasise that there is absolutely no objective reason why this should be so, in terms of the piece by Joss.

But this is the real charm of the items in little exhibition. Like the artist, they defy being put in a box, but instead ask to each be seen and judged on the basis of how it presents itself to us, without a broader constraint of exhibition theme, or stated ideal on the artist’s part.

SLurl Details

• Club LA and Gallery (Amano, rated: Moderate)