Désirée Ickerodt

Thursday, 13 May 2010

A Moving Exhibition - Private View - 3rd June 2010

2 is 1 (2010)

plaster, paint

L120 x W70 x H55 cm

A MOVING EXHIBITION** – Curated by Antria Pelekanou

**Moving London through Art

01-7 JUNE 2010 PRIVATE VIEW 3RD JUNE 18:00 – 22:00

Vyner Street Gallery

23 Vyner Street

London, E5 8NN

www.amovingexhibition.com

Friday, 23 April 2010

Take A Pew - Private View on 3rd June 2010

Inner Reflection - male & female (2010)

jesmonite, brass powder, paint

male: h17 x w11 x d14 cm; female: h18.5 x w9 x d10 cm

For details please go to http://www.take-a-pew.blogspot.com/.

Having been specifically made for an exhibition in St. Augustine Church, these two sculptures are inspired by the church’s inner architecture, i.e. by the arch and space behind the altar. A church is a sacred place and being inside it induces inner reflection. The two sculptures’ inner spaces are also reflective and in stark contrast to their outer appearance. There is multiple reflection within this sculptural couple – the feminine and the masculine, above and below, without and within.

Wednesday, 14 April 2010

FRESH - Private View on 22nd April 2010

FRESH - First Year Show of UEL Fine Art students

at Trinity Buoy Wharf

on Thursday 22nd April 2010 from 5pm

For directions click here.

Armchair (2010)

armchair, steel wool

h 90 cm X w 85 cm X d 75 cm

Désirée Ickerodt explores the juxtaposition of opposites; in this case of interior decoration and industrial material i.e. steel wool. The armchair is a familiar household object and induces associations of comfort and homeliness. The steel wool’s abrasiveness negates this. This piece of furniture is holding the paradox of being inviting and repulsive at the same time. But there is more… A ball of steel wool crowns the armchair’s backrest. Is this a cushion or a person’s head? Has the furniture come alive? It is up to the viewers to make up their minds.

Someone commented on the armchair as being 'uncanny'.

This is what I found out about it on wikipedia:

The Uncanny (Ger. Das Unheimliche -- literally, "un-home-ly") is a Freudian concept of an instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of it being uncomfortably strange.

Because the uncanny is familiar, yet strange, it often creates cognitive dissonance within the experiencing subject due to the paradoxical nature of being attracted to, yet repulsed by an object at the same time. This cognitive dissonance often leads to an outright rejection of the object, as one would rather reject than rationalize.