Experiments

I have been working on a series of drawing called Februalia during the month of February. They are medium size drawings on paper, using black & gold pens featuring a combination of crystals and animals; a rabbit-crystal, ant-crystal, woman-crystal, cock-crystal, etc… Their geometries and facets are decorated with contrasting patterns in both colours, that create a playful alignment.

These hybrid drawings symbolise our interconnectivity. We – as in people, animals, rocks, land, air, water, fire, etc.. – are all made of similar chemical elements, just organised differently. These drawings challenge our vision of the world as “them versus us”, “organic versus inert”, and hope to shift the way we think in binary terms about nature and ultimately modify the cultural consciousness.

In the period of research of this residency, I would like to explore these ideas in sculptural form and increase the online accessibility to the new works… and will be bringing my thinking, my mixing and my cooking in the workshop. It’s all work in progress…

First things first.
Let’s get some rocks and play…
Soap & Rocks, soft and hard,
One I can carve easily, the other I can build…
They don’t like each other, they don’t want to stay together.
One is slippery, the other dusty…
One embraces, the other wants to be embraced
One dissolves, the other NOT

Arabel Lebrusan

Arabel Lebrusan is a visual artist working in sculpture and jewellery and based in the UK. Focusing on transforming materials into physical metaphors — such as toxic mercury from small scale gold mining into a child’s tinny hand — she seeks to amplify the voices of the people and the land falling through the cracks of the system. She has exhibited and created site-specific installations at The Higgins Bedford (2021); Brighton CCA (2021); Women’s Support Centre, Surrey (2021); Museum of St.Albans (2015); St.Paul’s Square, Bedford (2012); Art in Fuse, Rotterdam (2005); Lunâ Art Collective Gallery, Cebu (2004); Gesundbrunnen bunker, Berlin (2000). Her TEDx talk on ethical jewellery and her latest campaign raising funds for Global March against Child Labour are examples of her international campaign work. She was also awarded Designer of the Year (2017) by the National Association of Jewellers, UK and was the winner of Eastern Approaches (2014) at UH Galleries, Museum of St.Albans.