MAGNHILD KENNEDY
WEARABLE SCULPTURE
Monday 20th to Saturday 25th September 2021
Exhibition running until 4th October
The Mandrake, which is more than just a luxury hotel, is known for being a creative sanctuary whereby artists are permanently connected with the soul of the hotel. A decorative temple, the art it houses often plays with the narratives of darkness and light - a common theme amongst the collection.
Magnhild Kennedy aka Damselfrau, showcases her wearable sculptures including abstract and textured masks, throughout The Mandrake spaces with a special exhibition in the portal to welcome the hotel's guests. For the week of her residency, Magnhild will stay at the hotel and play around different spaces of the hotel to create a photographic project. From the infamous window of Studio 5, the space dedicated to the hotel’s Artist in residence programme, guests will be able to admirer Kennedy’s short movie, casting her own creations.
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All Damselfrau masks are made, mostly sewn, by hand. Kennedy uses all kinds of materials she can find. The materials range from pearls, old tea towels and gold confetti to plastic trinkets and old laces. She never sketches or decides the design of a mask beforehand. The materials she combines decide the design and expression of each mask, which she sculpts on mannequin heads. The process sometimes takes a day or a week. At other times the mannequin head sits on a shelf wearing a half finished mask for a year, until the right material surfaces in her studio.
