What Shadow – Ce que dit la bouche d’ombre – Exhibition

Throughout 2023 – 2024, Arthouse Jersey, Guernsey Arts and Les Ateliers du Vent have been working together on a cultural exchange and art residency programme.

Supported by the Institut Français, Rennes Metropole, the States of Jersey & Guernsey Arts, the residency exhibition celebrates artistic collaboration across the Islands and Rennes Metropole.

Following an Open Call, three artists were selected to represent each jurisdiction and have visited each place to work together on research, creative concepts, with the overall aim being to develop a shared body of work.

Guernsey has been represented by Yasmin Atkinson. Yasmin is a multidisciplinary performance artist, who has worked in theatre, photography and more recently, ceramics.

Yasmin’s work is inspired by local heroes, fantasy and folklore. Her work within the body of this exhibition is inspired by spiritual connections between Jersey, Guernsey and France, the connections between the artists taking part in the residency as well as Victor Hugo’s spiritual presence that continues to intrigue and captivate today.

Yasmin  explained: “In this exhibition, I present four ceramic sculptures, each imbued with layers of symbolism and reflection. Three sculptures symbolise the stages of womanhood: the Maiden, adorned with stars; the Mother, radiating with the warmth of the sun; and the Crone, shrouded in the mysteries of the moon. Through the veil of leaves, words are carried from Hugo’s ‘tables of words. In this exploration of legacy and mystical landscapes, I invite viewers to join me on a journey of introspection, where the boundaries between the known and the unknown blur, and the whispers of the otherworld beckon.”

Rennes has been represented by photographer Estelle Chaigne. Estelle’s work looks at photospiritism as well as performance and sound. Her work looks at the spiritualism of Victor Hugo, with her work giving an image and a voice to the spirits of yesteryear. Estelle is a resident artist of Les Ateliers du Vent in Rennes and enjoys working collaboratively on artistic projects and residencies, having previously undertaken a similar residency in Winnipeg, Canada.

Ceramicist Louise London represents Jersey. Through Louise’s research in Guernsey, Jersey and France, she has created ‘relics’ of human creativity. In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving and creating for us already, she asks the viewer to question whether AI is a threat or whether it is an output of what we input. Ceramics have been found in archeology for millennia, it’s a material that withstands time. Based on heritage dance in Jersey, Guernsey and Rennes, London’s work takes impressions made from the feet of heritage dancers and develops them into abstract sculptures; using repetition as a metaphor of how the artist views AI’s creations; a projection of human creativity.