Collection: Dewi Plass - Circus

Circus is an exhibition of new paintings by Dewi Plass. The circus functions a metaphor for the madness of everyday life. It sheds light on life as a performance: we are ceremonial animals in search of social acceptance, unity and a sense of belonging, which we try to establish through rituals that create and contribute meaning to the life we live.

Opening reception: Saturday, July 22nd, 6 - 9pm. Drinks will be provided by our friends at Jetty Road Brewery and Malocchio.

This exhibition will run from July 23rd - August 13th and will coincide with Alex Garant's Bon Voyage!, Mark Seabrook's Trouble on Three Wheels and Atsuko Goto's Melancholy Festivals.

The circus of life, as the artist views it, encompasses a choreography of expectations nestled in the absurd. It is a peculiar arena of restrictions that simultaneously, and quite ironically, also carries within it all the ingredients that are needed to break free. Therefore, Circus explores the balancing act of life, the continuous conversation of what is versus what should be, and is rooted in the constructive process of becoming whilst placing the animal kingdom at the centre stage, an arena where young animals discover the world freely and let the environment imprint their being whilst the older animals move with and within the structures that have shaped them.

Circus is a curious, some may say even say “mad,” exploration of what happens in the center of the arena, in the illuminated circle of performance that is capable of drawing our attention in the most immersive and mesmerizing way and yet is so frail and prone to change, as clouds wander across the sky, scattering the light and bringing the performance to a sudden halt. Because as the light shifts and our focus is redirected, just like the smallest gust of wind can change that once so perfectly round shape of the dandelion, our definition of what life enfolds is redefined and the fragility of becoming, the absurdity of expectations and the true madness of the circus we perform in, becomes exposed.

Dewi Plass was born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in 1990. She had an early passion for both nature and art, exploring her world with paper and ink. She received an MA degree in cultural and visual anthropology from Leiden University in 2014, but she realized that she wanted to translate the stories in her head into art and she began to pursue making art full-time. Plass works in acrylics, and her art has been shown in Australia and the United States.