from The Witching Hour
The Esker Foundation
May 25th - September 2nd 2018
Curated by Shauna Thompson
Image credit: John Dean
2018
Steel, paint
2017
Steel, paint
Weekday charms: we can all use them, at work and in love. Vanessa Brown makes metal sculpture with a light hand and a playful heart. Her vertical sculpture Wednesday Charmholds stormy weather atop with a silver cloud and lightning bolt over an empty wine bottle disgorging its last drop. These float above a fetching red high-heel shoe. Looks like the party lasted longer than the weekend. Is this good or bad luck?
Brown’s sculpture melds popular culture, jewellery, decor and craft, but leaves the question of meaning open, ambiguously posed by the objects she assembles. From the early 20th century craze of decorative bracelets dangling miniature objects, launched by the unlikely, staunch Queen Victoria, to its popular role as a de rigeur rite of passage for young ladies in the 1950s, the charm bracelet has seen several resurgences. I have a penchant for bracelets, but alas, no charm bracelet in my collection. Vanessa Brown’s Wednesday Charmtempts me to get started, with hers. –Jessica Bradley, curator and collections advisor