University Art Gallery
Configurations
- Venue
- The UWS Art Gallery, Building AD, Werrington North Campus (View Map)
- Date
- 9 Nov - 20 Dec 2013
- Open
- Monday - Friday: 9.00 am - 5.00 pm.
For an invitation to the exhibition, please see Configurations Invitation (PDF, 291.46 KB)
Configurations
Clara Hali’s sculptures within the exhibition “Configurations” are mostly the abstraction of movement and gesture made by predominantly the female body . Her works bring to mind Marcel Duchamp’s “Nude descending a Staircase”, whereby each solid form rests upon another, reminding us of the miracle of gravity and the balancing act that takes place within our own bodies. Clara’s work for over a decade now has been concerned with the building blocks of life and the balance of it and she has used the human body as the vehicle for this metaphor.
Her yoga asana body series in the upper level of the gallery is a tribute to her mother, who practised and taught hatha yoga for over 50 years. One of her mother’s favourite books was “Light on Yoga” by B.K.S. Iyengar, and the images within this book directly inspired these works. Clara inherited the book when her mother passed away last year.
Clara states that;
“One of the aims of yoga is to find balance in even the most difficult situations.
Life, for most of us, is about finding balance, physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.”
Her body of work in the bottom gallery also reflect her interest in this inner landscape, however these sculptures have been developed towards an enhanced expression of the human condition through the metaphor of landforms.
The Blue Mountains where this artist resides has strongly influenced her work, she has been intrigued by the precarious nature of the Blue Mountain landforms and how they can reflect one’s inner landscape.
Clara suggests that,
“Rock walls can have huge crevasses and cracks, bounders can be stacked on top of each other and somehow nature holds them together…The human experience is such that at times we can feel like we are falling apart and yet have a great capacity to function and seemingly hold it together.
Whether her metaphoric vehicle is the human form or those found within a ragged mountain range, Clara is most concerned with capturing the vulnerable aspects of the human condition.
Monica McMahon,
UWS Art Curator
- Configurations exhibition - Artist Statement
- Configurations exhibition - Clara Hali CV
- Configurations exhibition - Price list
Please join us at the opening
Saturday, 9 November 2013 at 2.00 pm
Exhibition Continues
Exhibition continues until Friday, 20 December 2013.
Curated by UWS Art Curator, Monica McMahon. ( monica.mcmahon@uws.edu.au )
Current Exhibits