Sam Shendi Exhibtion

On Wednesday 14^th December, I visited the Civic Gallery in Barnsley to explore the current exhibition Sam Shendi “Mother and Child”. The exhibition holds a series of powerful sculptures exploring the timeless concept of “Mother and Child” which has inspired artists throughout history with the development of minimalism pieces. Sam Shendis work has been influenced by previous artists including Henry Moore which has inspired him to create sculptures which have been reduced to the human body and minimal shapes. By the pieces being minimal and simple it has allowed the artist to create hidden stories and emotions around his mother. The ten pieces explore different aspects of “mother and child” and how the relationships effects mothers mentally and physically. Sam Shendi identifies the struggles of motherhood through the emphasis of the colour “blue” within his work. The striking colour is highlighted through his work and identifies towards the audience the area the mother is struggling with through the sculpture. The chosen colour is also child friendly and “visually appealing”. I believe the minimal shapes emphasises the emotional connection between the sculpture and meaning behind the pieces. Within the exhibition, a sculpture on display explores the loss of his mother to breast cancer which reflects the connection between mother and child but also the emotional loss. I believe that each sculpture within the gallery show the development of motherhood and how it effects the mother role as the child grows up. The colour describes different aspects of motherhood which includes depression, sleepless nights, pain, swollen feet, child birth and the fear of losing the child. The artist has explored beyond the obvious concept of “Mother and Child” which can be seen as love and happiness through previous artists and analysed the negative impacts of a mother role through pain and emotion. Sam Shendi has simplified the human form and centred the emotion and feeling behind his work which is displayed to the audience. Fibreglass and Resin have been used to create the sculptures which also includes striking but simple colours. The minimal shapes and striking colours combined create an abstract appearance which continues to emphasise the different emotions faced through a mother’s role.

 

Lullaby 2015 & Seed 2015

These two pieces reflect a child at birth and the struggles of sleeping as a mother. The colour blue is used to show the struggle of children sleeping and shows the minimal shape of a mother cuddling a child. I find these pieces interesting as I discovered by the curator at the civic that the pieces move which symbolises a mother rocking a child to sleep. Also, I find the piece  interesting as it relates to the struggle of a mother sending a child to sleep through rocking and singing lullaby's.

 

Ripe 2016

This piece displays the stages of pregnancy though a repeated pattern of blue dots which highlights the subject of the piece. The shape of the sculpture also symbolises the shape of pregnancy and relates to the title of the piece “ripe” as the outline suggests that the mother is ready to give birth. I find this piece interesting to observe as it presents characteristics and a childish appearance compared to other sculptures om display. This makes the piece stand out  and more engaging towards the audience within the exhibition. I find the piece interesting as it conveys the message and struggle of pregnancy through each stage until birth.

 



Alert 2015

The sculpture displays the struggle of Mother taking care of her child through mental health. The piece can suggest depression as Sam Shendi has explored this subject through his work and the colour blue is displayed at the top of the mothers head. The piece is interesting to observe as the colour subject is displayed twice within the piece and combines the mother and subject of the child. This implies to me that the mother is struggling with the birth of her child and this has effected the subject  emotionally. Overall, the piece emphasises Sam Shendis  subject colour blue the most through this sculpture .