Land+Living: Joanna Sands

Art — May 4, 2006 Posted by James

Topographic sculptures and installations

London based artist Joanna Sands bridges the realms of art and architecture by creating contextual sculptures which challenge and inform the perception of space. She began making large temporary sculptural installations in abandoned buildings in 1993, often using found materials. The use of dilapidated structures as a canvas brings to mind the work of Gordon Matta-Clark - the appropriation and investigation of cast off places. By making visually simple alterations to found spaces, Joanna subverts the spatial expectations of the viewer. These early pieces were ephemeral: constructed, documented, experienced as the venue for a "viewing" party, and then dismantled.

More recently, Sands has begun to undertake commissions for permanent installations and has displayed some of the research models developed in the course of designing her site-specific work. The piece shown at right is located in Joanna's own studio.

Sands' work will be on exhibition 20th May to 10th June at the Optician Gallery in London.

Link: Joanna Sands

8 comments

Comments (8)

yael — May 10, 2006
website

don't skip her website. i find her work very intriguing and facinating.

Mike — May 10, 2006
Exhibition

Thanks for bringing this artist to my attention, I will certainly be going to see her show in Deptford.

Samantha — May 15, 2006
Optical Gallery

There's much to look forward to at the show judging by the images exhibited here.

Lara — May 18, 2006
Installation in Deptford

The concept for the instalations sounds very intriguing. The wall mounted pieces are fantastic. I'll make sure I see the exhibition at the Optician Gallery.

Gabrielle Seymour — May 18, 2006
Work

I have seen Joanna's work before and I am amazed by the still beauty of her pieces and the extraordinary way she manges to make solid material appear fluid and hard shapes twist and flow. I will definetly be checking out her show.

Nicolette Jones — May 19, 2006
Joanna Sands

Seeing these stunning pictures makes me sad that Joanna's temporary site-specific work had to be dismantled in the past. I wonder if there are pictures of those installations to be seen anywhere?

Hugo Sands (Joanna's brother) — June 12, 2006
Joanna Sands pictures

In response to Nicolette's query, there are pictures of Joanna's past site-specific works, some of which were exhibited in the show at Deptford. There is a picture of one of them on the contacts page on her website, and information about others can be obtained by emailing the contact address on the site.

Lottie Hope — June 26, 2006
Joanna's exhibition

I went to see the exhibition in Deptford - The work looks great on her website but its more beautiful when you see it in 3 dimensions. The smaller pieces are amazingly intricate and you can only really appreciate the waves in the big pieces by seeing them there on the walls and floor and in the ceiling, transforming the whole space, which consisted of all three stories of the building. Amazing.