Åsa Jungnelius
Spazio Nobile
4 days left
Swedish artist Åsa Jungnelius presents her first solo exhibition at Spazio Nobile, presenting new sculptures in glass, marble and metal, as well as iterations of recurring objects in her artistic practice.
"Desire is present in some of my work, perhaps mainly to describe vulnerability and imperfection. Beauty for me is something you can rest your eyes on and find comfort in, but I often wonder why people think beauty is good?"
"Desire Utensil Container" is the first solo exhibition of Swedish artist Åsa Jungnelius at Spazio Nobile, presenting new sculptures in glass, marble and metal, as well as iterations of recurring objects in her artistic practice which have been created for this site-specific installation at Spazio Nobile. Existential questions are addressed through the materiality of glass and marble, each representing a different technical approach and state of mind. In the process, new entities have emerged into this world, some recognisable, bearing traces of everyday utensils, others ephemeral, reminiscent of the corporeal. In the centre of the exhibition a symbol of rebirth has been placed, a piece of raw purple Egyptian porphyry.
The Earth / Jorden and Desire are glass sculptures formed following the movement and gravity of the glass. Jungnelius explores the limits of the material and what the human body can control. This physical process is at the heart of the artist’s practice, the transformation of a territory into an object of desire.
Desire Utensil Container
"The title Desire/Utensil/Container stands for an abstraction - to be able to carry what we receive from life, but especially how we can give to each other. With the tools we have in our personalities, which are always sharpened and re-sharpened throughout life, so that we can reach each other and our own earth. I see desire as both a window and a way out, but also as a force for progress."
Exhibition View by ©Margaux Nieto
A collaboration with KOSTA BODA
"Personally, the lava-like power of glass in its creation gives me an inner peace. Also, the repetitive movement and physical labour involved in the process. When I work with a larger team like the Kosta Boda glassworks, I have access to the power and experience of the great glassworkers. To create with the hand is to think, and when we are in a team, we think together like a six-headed monster, or rather, like a cat!"
Exhibition View by ©Margaux Nieto
Mother of Pearl, III
I am not particularly interested in the dichotomy of materials, as it is an approach that sees the world in opposition, which in turn can lead to exploitation, domination or conflict between different parties. I am more interested in the movement, energy and exchange that is possible with an open approach.
Åsa Jungnelius, Desire, Utensil, Container - Exhibition View by ©Margaux Nieto
When you spit on a stone it becomes wet, 2023
"The artistic action and the work with stone, mostly the more malleable Carrara marble, is converted from the glass process. With the stone I slowly chew my way into the material; the slowness allows the sculpture to find its way further into my stomach and become my own soil."
Åsa Jungnelius, Desire, Utensil, Container - Exhibition View by ©Margaux Nieto
Desire
I think about how we have moved and live through the landscape throughout history, and how in many places a pervasive chastening and impoverishing approach materialises the prevailing political structures, power relations and ideological perspectives of the time. We humans undeniably leave traces, some of which are completely irreversible. I try to understand what mechanisms drive us; is it desire that haunts us?
