Anouska Beckwith: Uni~Verse

Having held her solo debut in New York last year, Paris-based multidisciplinary artist Anouska Beckwith opens her first solo show in London this September.

Beckwith works between photography, film and installation however her practice is rooted in her research into archaic mythologies; ancient Greece, medieval England and early Buddhism are all influences, with the position of the woman as the focal point.

Uni~Verse brings photographs taken over the past five years to explore a common focus: the natural world and our destruction of it. Beckwith explains that “until two thousand years ago we lived in Matriarchal societies where women seen as the givers of life, keepers of peace and healers; my work incorporates references that have been forgotten in history, as I believe that in order for us to restore the natural balance of our planet we need to be awakened to what has been lost.”

Therefore her works reframe historical stories from a feminine position, for example with 2016 series The Mists of Avalon whereby Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend is recast not as a deceptive and corrupt but, cloaked in scarlet, as a sensual woman with a powerful understanding of the natural world. Elsewhere in Uni~Verse, a black and white series depicts distressed angels who writhe in the crevices of rocks, having fallen only to experience the pain of the Earth; some glisten with gold-leaf embroidery, detailing the flora of the forest.

Mirroring the extraordinary locations which Beckwith travels to in order to photograph, these works sit within a deep organic installation of leaves and branches, illuminated by a lightbox featuring The Empress (2015), her pale blue and bronze dress glowing against the gallery’s burgundy walls.

Anouska Beckwith Uni ~ Verse runs from 17 September – 7 October 2016 at Palm Tree Gallery, London.

Credits:
1. Anousha Beckwith, The Mists of Avalon (2016). Courtesy of the artist and Palm Tree Gallery.