The Small Things / From The Lowest Land
The exhibition stems from an affinity and an ongoing conversation; the striving to depict the ‘inhumanly human, humanly inhuman'.
o great happiness
great happiness have they got,
who were born in the lowest country – everywhere you can see them wandering
loving
crying –
everywhere they walk,
but in their hands they carry little things from the lowest country.
G. Munch-Petersen
Objects carry a spirit—a resonance that surpasses their physical form and outlasts the passage of time, dwelling in a realm of meaning that speaks to memory, essence, and transformation. In The Small Things / From the Lowest Land, the works of British artist Anousha Payne (b. 1991) and Danish sculptor Sonja Ferlov Mancoba (1911–1984) converge in a dialogue that transcends generations and geographies. Mancoba, a central figure in Danish modernism, crafted sculptures that delve into the existential and cultural conditions of human life, reflecting her utopian belief in art’s power to inspire social change. Her connection to the surrealist movement and her involvement with groups such as Linien, Høst, and Cobra underscore her fascination with non-Western cultures, particularly African imagery—a thread woven throughout her practice and echoed in the work of her contemporaries.
Payne’s practice resonates with Mancoba’s focus on human existence, using glazed ceramics, bronze, found objects, and the fluid gestures of watercolor, ink, and oil on canvas to explore the universal language of form. Together, their works interlace themes of spirituality, storytelling, and the shared human condition. These creations murmur with a quiet potency, resonating with unspoken truths and enduring as timeless echoes of our collective consciousness.
At the heart of The Small Things / From the Lowest Land lies the concept of the ready-made, or objet trouvé—found objects reimagined as integral elements of art, challenging and expanding traditional notions of artistic creation. Rooted in the Dada and Surrealist movements of the early 20th century, this approach, pioneered by artists such as Hans Arp and Kurt Schwitters, influenced Mancoba’s early sculptural assemblages. Today, this legacy finds renewed expression in Payne’s works, where found objects are seamlessly integrated into biomorphic sculptures imbued with personal narratives.
The practices of Anousha Payne and Sonja Ferlov Mancoba reveal striking parallels, grounded in a shared belief in art as a universal language that fosters connection and community. Both artists intertwine personal narratives with collective symbolism, delving into themes of transformation—where figures merge with animals, found objects reflect humanity, and the interconnectedness of all things comes to the forefront. Their works transcend temporal and cultural boundaries, demonstrating the capacity of visual language to communicate beyond words.
