VALE OF GLAMORGAN FESTIVAL OF MUSIC 2005 (TEXT ONLY)
Tuesday 30 August - Sunday 4 September EXHIBITION 2005
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An exhibition of mirror boxes by Mary Husted
Prompted by the bicentenary of Hans Christian Andersen, Mary Husted has created a series of mirror boxes inspired by the fairytale world. Enigmatic phrases from fairy stories are captured within their walls — including references to Japanese tales.
In collaboration with Jinny Shaw, the artistic director of Okeanos (see 2 & 4 September), the boxes have been designed to incorporate elements of sound — echoes of nature (birdsong, water) alongside fragments of instrumental music.
Mary Husted’s exhibition is incorporated into the festival concerts on 30 August & 4 September
Pieces from Light Gathers, Mary Husted’s response to the music of Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe. Light Gathers was exhibited at the Australian National University in 2001.
Mary Husted’s work already has a strong connection with contemporary music and the Vale of Glamorgan Festival. In 2001, during an artistic residency in Canberra, she created three extended works in response to the music of Peter Sculthorpe, two of which, Migrations and Qualia, were exhibited as part of the 2001 Festival, alongside performances of the music which inspired them. The other work, Light Gathers (see images, right) was exhibited in Australia. Though these creations take their cue from musical sources, they are also a deeply felt direct response to the Australian landscape which had provided the inspiration for the music itself. Landscape is an abiding love of Mary Husted’s, stemming from her early childhood on the South Downs. Whether it is the wide-open spaces of the outback or the private internalised spaces of a fairytale world, she constantly seeks to capture a sense of place with her distinctive visual language of fragments caught in boxes of light and darkness.