Karen Sewell: Lost

Overview

The world continues to feel the effects of the recent economic crisis, while repercussions of the intensive industralisation of the past couple hundred years are becoming apparent. Our climate is in crisis, natural resources are running dry. The state of the world is not looking good and some of us are beginning to doubt the virtues of a neoliberal, consumerist society. Heavy stuff, this, but sometimes we have to tackle the big issues.

Karen Sewell takes on the challenge in her current exhibition, Lost, at the TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre. The artwork assembles a group of child-sized mannequins in neat rows, like soldiers in formation. They bare circular wounds in the middle of their chests, and are made all the more disconcerting by their glassy eyes and fluttering lashes. A sound piece accompanies the installation.

A critique of a spiritually devoid culture of consumerism, this exhibition is worth a visit and a ponder.