Symbiosis

As one of the only galleries challenging the pairing and viewing of art and design, this latest exhibition looks at how works can live together and encourage further expression and interaction. Eclectica Design and Art presents Symbiosis, a meeting point of creatively living within the cross sections of art and design. The exhibition will feature new work by Amy Ayanda, Muso Masoabi, Vanessa Berlein, Natasha Barnes, Kara Taylor and Paul Painting curated alongside a selection of iconic design pieces.

Conversations between the art and design pieces play with form, shape and colour, where the relationships and associations between the objects form partnerships that are interdependent. These conversations present themselves as small questions and big feelings, spurred on perhaps by this irrational and yet completely understandable thing of emotion – where you just know when a thing is right, so too you can know the inevitable pairing of a good visual combination. Here, at the meeting point of art and design, the table sits with the sculpture, the installation compliments the painting and each work is placed to intersect and mingle – creating a dialogue. Here, the colours collaborate across a divide; in another moment, the shape reforms to associate with that curve. It is in and around these barriers that we can understand the symbiosis of these purportedly opposing definitions. In the pairing of artistic objects, be they fine art or design, the distinctions are redesigned and open to interpretation. Symbiosis investigates how unlikely pairings exist in the context of the artists’ process, media and themes, which are navigated through the intuition of the exhibition set up.

The abstract, large scale painting works of Amy Ayanda play with shape and texture, through bleeds and blurs reminiscent of others and yet complete as they are. The weaving of mood and form patterns across the interpretation forming a working relationship that can be understood at will. In particular, Kara Taylor’s surreal and mystical mixed media works combine the eclectic with the philosophical – musing on life and art and how form interacts with a surface. With Vanessa Berlein’s criss-crossing and playful tangling, shapes are both transient and concrete depending on where you choose to stand. The positioning of the body within a space comes forward with Muso Masoabi’s illusive portraits, evocatively shifting and blurring moments of clarity. Where clarity and calm are used in Natasha Barnes’s work to own and reorganize spaces and shapes, Paul Paintings soft nostalgic works grasp at space through time that fades descriptions.

In Symbiosis, these visual conversations allude to intimate questions and grander feelings, spurred on by the irrational, yet relational aspect of emotion. The exhibition hopes to explore these concepts through asking visual questions about art and design and how they can work together.

Opening on May 4 from 5pm! Please come through to celebrate the opening event for this gorgeous exhibition!