Kirsten Coelho’s Passages is a new body of work that explores ongoing themes of social history and material culture.

The series examines the physical and metaphorical changes that occur when one leaves their home and the notion of the heroes’ welcome when one returns. This is translated through a body of work investigating the objects we take with us on our journey, and how our perception of said objects is altered by different historical and cultural contexts.

With a long history of use extending from China to Europe, porcelain provides a rich canvas with which to articulate notions of a journey. Many of the objects in the exhibition contain iron oxide, a commonplace metal compound and veritable contrast to the immaculate and precious porcelain. This, coupled with the ephemeral qualities of porcelain itself, unveils the mutability of light and shadow and the convergence of the formal and the abstract across surfaces and shapes.

Through Coelho’s porcelain and metal compounds, Passages synthesises constructed narratives that attempt to interpret themes of alteration, versatility and metamorphosis.