Helios Rising: Veronica Wilton

Veronica Wilton's first solo show with Close Ltd leads you through a narrative of folklore and mythology that dwells within the objects she sculpts and casts. Seen here is "Buteo Buteo", (2014), a work that comprises a pair of bold yellow hawks, placed a distance apart, poised, eyes level with our own. Each has its head turned fully around, to fix its gaze on the other. The wings are folded - possibly at rest - but potentially, ready to explode into movement. They emanate a strength and singularity, suggestive of the natural world. Standing between the two, we are already inside. We are invited into an environment of Wilton's theatre settings or architecture, indefinable, silent storytelling or surreal riddles.

Other works use exact reproductions which revel in the method of casting, fragile works, displaying Wilton's mastery of her craft. The work references historical art genres, still life and its ability to offer an understanding of the cultures of the past, through reworking and materials of the present. The darker mystic side to Wilton's work, holds a spiritual tension of the sacred and superstitious nature of objects, umbrellas, scissors, brooms all hold a magical fairytale presence. We sit between equilibrium, conceptual conviction and aesthetic concerns, that reflect a real pleasure of making.

At first glance, Wilton's objects are recognisable, identifiable things, but in the next, they seem to become intangible, - often deliberately layered with multiple possible readings.

"I think the sense that you know exactly what you're looking at evaporates quite quickly. My work brings my delicate, abstract experiences into a more concrete, physical reality." Veronica Wilton