Into the Woods, a new exhibition by young British photographer Ellie Davies will showcase her new work from the series 'Half Light', alongside her earlier bodies of work. In 'Half Light,' Davies adds a new element – water – a dark, still river, bordered by colourful, textured riverbanks rich with vegetation. The murky water dissects each image creating a false horizon, separating the viewer from the twilight forest beyond and allowing the land to be considered from a distance. ‘Growing up in the New Forest in the south of England, I spent my childhood exploring and playing in the woods with my twin sister. In Half Light, I consider my relationship with these places, my ongoing attempt to reconnect with the wilder landscapes of my youth and to discover if those remembered and imagined places can be found and captured again.’ In addition to 'Half Light', Into The Woods will include previous bodies of work in Davies’s woodland series’ including 'Stars', 'Between The Trees', 'Islands', 'Come With Me' and 'The Gloaming'. Ellie Davies: Into The Woods will run from 21st July to 20th August 2016 at the Crane Kalman Gallery, 178 Brompton Road, London SW1 1HQ.

Crane Kalman Gallery Press Release

INTO THE WOODS by Ellie Davies

21 July – 20 August 2016
Crane Kalman Gallery, 178 Brompton Rd, London SW3 1HQ

Into the Woods, a new exhibition by young British photographer Ellie Davies will showcase her new work from the series 'Half Light', alongside her earlier bodies of work created by Davies over the past seven years in the forests of the UK.

The forest is Davies’s studio. Working alone she responds to, and alters, the landscape with a series of temporary interventions, such as making and building, creating pools of light on the forest floor, or using craft materials such as paint and wool. A golden tree is introduced into a thicket to shimmer in the darkness, painted paths snake through the undergrowth, and strands of wool are woven between trees. The final images are a culmination of these elements and each piece draws on its specific location. Using handmade sculptural elements, she superimposes her personal narratives on the landscape.

In her latest series of work 'Half Light' (2015), Davies adds a new element – water – a dark, still river, bordered by colourful, textured riverbanks rich with vegetation. The murky water dissects each image creating a false horizon, separating the viewer from the twilight forest beyond and allowing the land to be considered from a distance.

‘Growing up in the New Forest in the south of England, I spent my childhood exploring and playing in the woods with my twin sister. In Half Light, I consider my relationship with these places, my ongoing attempt to reconnect with the wilder landscapes of my youth and to discover if those remembered and imagined places can be found and captured again.’

In addition to 'Half Light', Into The Woods will include previous bodies of work in Davies’s woodland series’ including 'Stars', 'Between The Trees', 'Islands', 'Come With Me' and 'The Gloaming'.

Over thousands of years, UK forests have been shaped by human processes and represent the confluence of nature and culture, of natural landscape and human activity. Forests are potent symbols in folklore, fairy tale and myth, places of enchantment and magic as well as of danger and mystery. In recent cultural history they have come to be associated with psychological states relating to the unconscious. Against this cultural backdrop Davies’s ongoing work explores the fabricated nature of the landscape to create a hinterland between reality and fantasy. She encourages the viewer to re-evaluate the ways in which their relationship with the landscape is formed, and to what extent this is a product of cultural heritage or personal experience.

Ellie Davies (1976) was born in London and graduated from the MA Photographic Degree Course at the London College of Communication (2008). She has been shortlisted the Aesthetica Art Prize 2016 and is the recipient of numerous awards including Kontinent Award (2014), Art Gemini (2014), the Professional Women Photographers International Juried Exhibition (2012), Lens Culture International Exposure Awards (2011) and the PX3 Paris Prix de la Photographie Paris Awards (2010).  Her work has been included in solo and group shows in The Netherlands, London, Paris, Budapest, Kiev, Moscow, St. Petersburg and at the The Arles Photo Festival in France and is held in private collections in the UK, the US, Central and Eastern Europe, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia and The United Arab Emirates.  Her work has been published in several books including WUD: Four Fictional Walks in the Woods, a limited edition hardcover photobook published by Tangerine Press, and Behind the Image By Natasha Caruana and Anna Fox published in 2012.

Into the Woods is Crane Kalman Brighton’s first ever exhibition at its sister gallery, Crane Kalman, in London.
cranekalmanbrighton.com
cranekalman.com

Ellie Davies: Into The Woods will run from 21st July to 20th August 2016 at the Crane Kalman Gallery, 178 Brompton Road, London SW1 1HQ.

Photo: Ellie Davis

Your Comments