Holding by Melanie Hoult is an installation of ceramics and fabric. A still life or life stilled by time. Empty clay vessels crowded, some broken, on the floor against the wall, cornered. For Melanie Holding represents the emotional, psychological and physical aspects of containing. For myself the work brings the viewer into the realm of non passive spectators. Observers on the precipice of action triggered by the thoughtful, mediative act of viewing.
The disembodied figures in the paintings, all searching, longing and wanting, left me with questions around desire. Author and psychotherapist, Charlotte Fox Weber, discusses the exploration of our deep wants and the importance of finding what it is we truly desire. It is an electric spark which propels us into action and into the realm of possibility.
