Past Exhibition – 23 October – 3 November 2012

From artist Aida Emeliyanova, a collection of mesmerising photographs and sculptures, exhibited at 99 Mount Street Gallery. Emeliyanova’s photography encapsulates elements of the artist’s Kazakh-Russian heritage and an ancestry involvement in the occult and folklore. The self-portrait photographs are a sensual and stylised re-imagining traditional Tarot iconography. The placement of Emeliyanova as the central character not only strengthens the personal investment but also helps develop an element of performance art.

The artist’s striking sculptured heads, intricately adorned with 18th century taxidermy birds and real butterflies, incorporate the conception of how we imprison ourselves within our own minds. The sculptures represent the freedom, the notions of breaking down the structures subconsciously created within the boundaries of our own psyche taking a powerful and overwhelming grip. We are presented with barbed wire, harshly wrapped around rustic staircases. The use of such materials helps to give life to this notion of searching through the “mesh of everyday madness”, standing as physical representation of Aida Emeliyanova’s efforts to make sense of the world we live in. Reminding us of the empowerment we hold to deny such freedom we long and desire.