Marianne Le Gallo

Artist Statement

“For me, the embodiment of an artwork is within the physical realm; the body is the axis of our perceptions, so how can art afford not to take that as a starting point? We relate to the world through our senses” [Hatoum, 1997:8]

I think a combination of Mona Hatoum’s sentiment about our sensory perception of the world and going for walks in nature informs a significant proportion of my practice. Walks and making are fairly central to my wellbeing and the two are interconnected. I also think about the shelf life of the objects I produce and with that in mind, I minimise waste and/or use waste materials. This concern is rather more ethical than it is conceptual. I want to bring the outside in rather than impose on nature. To a certain extent, I am remediating nature in the hope that my output will draw attention to our natural surroundings. My work/practice is tactile as well as thoughtful. I do not fetishise materials or finishes but there is satisfaction to be derived from a combination of manual/intellectual problem solving & achieving better outcomes over time. The passage of time and memory are also relevant here. I tend to use glass in relation to light. A well-placed glass object in a window projects a shadow which slowly travels across a horizontal plane, as our planet rotates, much like a sundial. A gentler way of observing the time passing than listening to seconds ticking on a wristwatch. Most landscapes have been impacted by human wanderlust, acquisitiveness and resource mismanagement (deforestation for instance). On pessimistic days, I sometimes think humanity might be booting itself out of the garden of Eden. 

Hatoum, M. in Archer, M., Brett, G., de Zegher, C., Manzoni, P., Said, E. (1997), Mona Hatoum, London: Phaidon Press.

Education and Qualifications

2021 Edinburgh College of Art Glass MFA

2018 DJCAD BA with Distinction Fine Art                            

1998 University College London BA (Hons) History of Art

1994 London Guildhall University BTEC Diploma Art &Design

Experience

2021 Edinburgh College of Art Graduate Show

2020 & 2021 Heart of Glass Workshops.

Member of ECA’s Glass Collective, a student led & University funded collective 

delivering workshops introducing glass processes to other UoE students.

2020 @100daysprojectscotland2020

2020 Commission

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

The University of Edinburgh 10 staff Awards

2019 Material Fluidity publication

2019 Gallery 10 representation, 5 William Street, Edinburgh

2019 Material Fluidity exhibition

2018 ECA UK/EU Masters Scholarship May 2018