First Scottish showing inspired by Dumfriesshire
Works by a renowned Italian artist have gone on display in Dumfriesshire for her first exhibition in Scotland.
Chiara Camoni is regarded as one of the foremost Italian artists of her generation and she has chosen to exhibit her latest collection at the Cample Mill gallery just outside Thornhill, which was once part of row of millworkers cottages.
The building is run by an independent arts organisation – Cample Line – which offers a public programme of international contemporary arts that is open to all, and includes exhibitions, screenings, readings, workshops, events and outreach projects.
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And they were thrilled to launch, on Saturday, Chiara’s new solo exhibition, called ‘murmur, buzz, hiss and rub’. It is open for viewing Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm, or by appointment.
It is all the more sweeter because Chiara – who lives and works in the Italian mountain village of Seravezza in Northern Tuscany – has taken her inspiration from Cample’s own local species – spiders, frogs and creatures that attempt to make their home in or around Cample Water.
The exhibition brings together more than 30 works by Chiara – from the monumental to the tiny – and includes three new works, two in ceramic, made using clays, soils and plant matter from Cample and nearby villages.
Upstairs she has install the monumental ‘Sister, 2023’ with its threaded handmade ceramic beads and other terracotta and ceramic elements. Around it are a 17 Gioielli – tiny, jewel-like sculptures that reference spiders, small insects and winged creatures and are made by melting and recycling pieces of jewellery – and a set of six Vasi Farfalla or ‘butterfly vases’, including a new diptych glazed with clays and soils from around Cample and Penpont.
On the ground floor, visitors will encounter ‘Burning Sister, 2024’ which is new film by Chiara featuring a Sister form that she built outdoors using botanical matter whilst participating in Makryammos Ephemeral Art Residency in Thassos.
Close by, a pair of 3m long ceramic snakes, ‘Due Serpenti, 2024’, animate the entrance space alongside a number of ‘Grande Sorella’ – large necklace-like sculptures – and a set of three self-portrait drawings.
The exhibition is accompanied by a newly commissioned short essay by independent curator and academic, Cecilia Canziani. Chiara’s practice encompasses drawing, printing with plant dyes, video and sculpture, with particular attention to ceramics.
She uses objects from the domestic world, organic materials such as herbs, berries, and flowers, as well as the different types of clay and ash she collects and she explores the relationships between craftsmanship and the spiritual sphere.
Chiara’s works have also been exhibited in numerous exhibitions and group shows across Europe. She is one of the artists exhibiting in Manifesta 15 in Barcelona until November.