Julia Morison: Head[case] / 29 May – 24 Oct 2021
Julia Morison ‘Hirsute, auris’ 2018, glazed porcelain, horse hair
Julia Morison, Head[case] 011 ‘Senses interrupted’ (2014) glazed stoneware, rubber corks. Courtesy of the artist
Julia Morison, Head[case] 031 ‘Loose lips sink ships’ (2017) glazed stoneware. Courtesy of the artist
An installation of seven small hexagonal rooms and 100 ceramic heads, each distinctly different from the next, by one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most inventive artists.
Modelled on a hat-maker’s block, each head is made distinctly different from the next by the addition of exaggerated features, peculiar appendages and uneasy textures. An excess of production, a riot of form, an assembly of strange types, Head[case] is a playfully surreal work. Bearing only a cursory relationship to the human head, we nevertheless can’t help but imagine Morison’s mutated heads coming alive, what strange new senses and ways of understanding the world they might reveal…
Head[case] is an artist project developed by Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Courtesy of the artist, Two Rooms Gallery, Jonathan Smart Gallery and private collectors. Soundtrack by Sad Freq (John Chrisstoffels). The artist acknowledges the support of Creative New Zealand. The accompanying catalogue is published by Objectspace with support from Two Rooms Gallery and Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui.