Shani Rhys James is exhibiting ‘Antigone Automated’ at Millennium Gallery in St Ives from 5th June – 7th July 2015. Set over three floors, this show celebrates Shani Rhys James’ diverse practice, including paintings and drawings alongside her rarely seen sculptural automata.
Taking almost exclusively the female figure - frequently herself - as her subject, Rhys James explores the role of women within domestic spaces. At the heart of Rhys James’ psychologically charged work is a sense of theatre. The dramatic automata, which fill the intimate spaces of the gallery, resonate with the symbolic props which inhabit her paintings: the cot, doll’s house, petticoat and pram.
Also included in the exhibition is her more recent work, in which the female figure has become entwined with images of flowers, either in the wallpaper that surrounds them or as part of a still life composition. In Rhys James's paintings these forms take on a life of their own, subverting the traditional 'feminine' arts of still life painting and home decorating.
For further information and to watch an online interview film, please click here.
