It is widely known that modern technologies, including selfie cameras and social media platforms, have completely altered our perceptions of ourselves. Now more than ever, people are exceptionally concerned with the way they look and the way they present themselves, especially online. One effect of this culture of vanity is a continuous desire to constantly look at our reflections and search for a true, definitive version of ourselves. Brooklyn-based artist Rose Nestler explores this culture through an exhibition she has curated for the Public Gallery in London titled Now I am a Lake; on view until July 22.The exhibition’s title comes from a Sylvia Plath poem about a woman staring into her own reflection in a lake, and it features works from nineteen artists, across a broad spectrum of mediums, that explore themes including reflection, symmetry, and self-image.
Catherine Telford Keogh, based in New York, is one of the artists featured in the exhibition, and her sculpture looks like a lake of distorted reflections. Bubbles, chains, numbers, letters, and other objects are all suspended in the still pool, speaking to Keogh’s preoccupation with material relations. With the piece, Keogh, on the one hand, demonstrates how these materials interact with one another, while, on the other hand, disrupting any possibility for finding a true, comprehensible image in the pool’s reflection.
Another artist whose work stands out is Jade Thacker also based in Brooklyn, who paints surreal figures to explore tension and discomfort. Her painting for Now I am lake has multiple faces layered atop one another, facing opposite directions with completely different expressions, exploring the tensions that can be found within just one image.
Monsieur Zohore, based in Baltimore, Maryland and New York, presents a work in which a bleached towel, moulded into the shape of a swan, is placed against a mirror. The title of the piece, I Was Perfect, speaks to the overall theme of being obsessed with one’s appearance and not being accepting of one’s body changing, which is reinforced with the image of the swan gazing intently upon itself, as if it desperately hopes to turn back the clock.
The London-based artist Saelia Aparicio presents two works for the collection, featuring her signature mouth-blown glass. Both of her works include asymmetrical faces and color schemes, challenging expectations of what a face should look like, like others featured in the collection.
