Elizabeth Thomson: Invitation to Openness – Substantive and Transitive States

Invitation to Openness—Substantive and Transitive States, by Wellington sculptor Elizabeth Thomson is an ambitious installation of hundreds of flocked bronze white moths. Quietly inhabiting the gallery space, these moths surround the viewer.  Appearing to have settled of their own accord, they claim the gallery as their natural environment.

Elizabeth Thomson says "While this new arrangement is the biggest moth installation I've undertaken, it is more understated in its presentation. These white moths have a ghostly presence, evoking a sense of unease but also mystery and wonder—like an apparition or vision, a pure moment in time and a reminder of our fragility and transience ... Invitation to Openness is an invitation to suspend disbelief and preconception—leaving the viewer open to experience a heightened sense of awareness—of just being”.

In 2011 Elizabeth Thomson was invited on a voyage with eight other artists to the Kermadec Islands. At night on Raoul Island, she was intrigued by the mass of moths that occupied the buildings they were staying in. Their presence left Thomson with a sense of peace, a reminder of the sensation she felt swimming underwater over the Kermadec Trench. This experience inspired her to use moths to create an immersive environment of her own.  

Event

Join Elizabeth Thomson on the opening day of this exhibion at a free artist talk. Find out more here. 

Image:  Elizabeth Thomson, Invitation to Openness -Substantive and Transitive States, 2014. Photo Tom Hoyle.