Exhibition Sittings: Gail Hocking

Gail Hocking (at FELTspace)
Shifting Terrains - A Quiet Disturbance
2014
Plaster, Latex
Dimensions variable

Photo taken at exhibition

Photo sourced from Gail Hocking

I again arrived late and missed the artist speak for the work by Gail Hocking and so went into the work without preconceived ideas on what the work was about. I found that this was a really important way for me to experience the work as I was able to find my own meaning within the work and interpret it without influence. I found the work to be extremely evocative and emotive, it gave me a feeling of longing and hope. I felt a sense of transition and hanging in the balance. When I read what the work was actually about I was surprised to see that I had not been so far off with my interpretation. The work was about the idea of migration, the known and the unknown, displacement, belonging, and being an insider or an outsider within a community. I did feel this when looking at the work. The use of the solid plaster against the semi transparent nylon helped to create this sensation of uncertainty.

The work was positioned within the space beautifully. The small number of pieces worked within the space as they allowed you to look at them in isolation from one another, while the size of the room was small enough to allow for the work to be viewed as a whole. I think this was an important aspect of the work as it allowed me to feel connected to it and experience a feeling of almost being part of the work whilst being present in the work. The most intense feeling that I received from the work was however a sense of quiet. The colour of the natural feeling walls (white) against the almost organic colours of the work were peaceful and calm, something that I felt was heightened by the fact that the work was in a room over from the Steven Cybulka work that gave me such a sense of harshness and unease. The works were hanging from the ceiling which added to the work and also impact on my physical presence as I became aware of the fact that we were doing opposite things. I think this was an important part of my interpretation of the piece because it really confirmed the fact that the artist was feeling different to the way that I felt being born in this country; she was hanging from the ceiling and I was protruding out of the earth. 

The work really does explore a sense of loss of identity and the idea of migration and the impacts that it has on the individual. The artist explored these ideas through the sculptural forms that, through their structure and the materials used, really resonated an instability and uncertainty of place. I liked every single bit about the work, there is nothing that I would change.