THE ART OF EGG SHELLS and the transformation from dark to light, from the inside to the outside, were on display recently at the Artsplash Cafe, in Hastings, Christ Church.
It was the exhibition, entitled Beneath The Surface, of mixed media artist Amanda Thompson. The approximately 40 pieces of art on display fell into two bodies of work – mosaics and paintings on wood, and painting or ink drawing on opened out wine boxes.
The art teacher, who is originally from Britain, said she was using her semi-retirement to pursue a path she loved.
“Beneath the surface is representing the layer we see literally, with the composition and the space and the light and colour but also beneath the surface meaning what we see underneath. So the expressive work here is a lot to do with how we hide ourselves and then we reveal ourselves, as well as the joy and happiness of life but the suffering, the pain – the human condition,” she explained.
Thompson said her mosaics, which depicted the colours of her adopted island, “the flying fish and the movement and the splash”, were done using egg shells – another example of a beneath the surface theme.
It’s time-consuming but extremely rewarding, she said.
The process involves cleaning the egg shells, painting each piece separately, doing an under-painting prior to the design and then putting on each piece of shell one by one.
“Again that represents beneath the surface – the fragility of an egg and how the birth is within the egg, the new life and using material that represents life,” Thompson said.
The response to the exhibition that closed on February 19 had been “superb”, she said.
“Especially the abstract work because I was wondering if I should have two bodies of work, because there is a much darker side.”
Admitting that “I don’t particularly like working on canvas” she said one body of work was “much more expressive. It’s much deeper, it’s much more revealing about what goes on” while the second body “represents Barbados – the pretty, beautiful side”.
