St Leonards based artists Katie Boccaccini Meadows and Conor Chignoli come together to present Semi-Permanent,  a nuanced, impactful exhibition of new work that honours the fundamentals of raw materials and evokes questions about our emotive alignment to objects.

Semi-Permanent traces a shared desire between the two artists to let materials speak for themselves whilst acknowledging the different but equally refined ways in which they create work that is raw, organic and always alive. 

Here Chignoli shares a striking selection of pieces that, whilst complete, feel ongoing in their use of natural materials. Meadows takes an interactive approach to showcasing ephemeral objects that can either be destroyed by you, the viewer or the hands of time. 

Semi-Permanent is a look into both the functional and spiritual elements of the artists’ work.

Katie Boccaccini Meadows

“The desire for interaction came from wanting to offer a bit of myself to people.”

In Semi-Permanent, Katie Boccaccini Meadows puts you at the centre of the experience. Channelling a desire to create and destroy simultaneously, the artist asks us to consider if an object is only meaningful if it exists or if it’s possible to find meaning in its ending. 

Offering is an installation that invites you to take one of seven ceramic charms and place them in water and watch as they dissolve. Adding another layer to the experience via audio, you can listen to the drone-like but harmonic sounds of pottery wheels turning. 

Is It Destruction That You Require To Feel? Features six hand-made vessels falling apart. Inspired by Roman pottery and elevated by a plinth, the vessels are watched by a camera and lit by artificial light as they slowly decompose during the duration of the exhibition. 

BIO: Katie Boccaccini Meadows is an East Sussex based artist who graduated from Bath School of Art and Design in 2010. Going on to win the New Designer of the Year runner-up award for her degree collection, she is known for her intricate crafted creations that fuse art and function. Her pieces are crafted with complex textures, organic patterns and unexpected embellishments. inspired by the human condition and our relationship to objects, Meadows works with a playful, curious approach to form, texture and storytelling.

Conor Chignoli

“the materials and mythologies are vital, they feel fundamental, elemental.”

Chignoli shares a selection of recently completed works, a snapshot of his practice right now. Figurative elements emerge in graphite alongside his more totemic abstract forms in mica and marble. There is a sense of stepping back, letting the work reveal itself to the viewer

A God-Shaped Body is the lead piece displayed here, a capstone to a period of playing with the fluid power of light. Composed of hundreds of hand-sliced, slithers of mica hovering, delicately tethered to the paper’s surface. The work invites us to consider the very nature of human consciousness- how we are a mirror to the divine, both the audience and the performer in our own existence.

Across the other works, Chignoli unpacks his experience with post-therapy journaling. Turning to graphite (sourced from pencils), these drawings investigate this new personal mythology and its meeting point with the ancient mythologies that shape his practice. Giving these works a more intimate and introspective tone.

BIO: The London-born, East Sussex based artist graduated from Camberwell in 2009. Maintaining a studio-based practice, both producing and showing work, Chignoli’s interest lies in materials that he can source and work with by hand. From marble to silk, rocks to seeds- his approach is robust, organic and led by the tactile qualities of each material. Inspired by the parallels between science and mythology, his predominately wall-based works are raw yet intricate, anchored by complex process.

Join us Friday 14 November for the opening drinks and first look at the show. Open all weekend.