Caves Gallery Melbourne
Mirror
Solo exhibition
1-23 November 2024
Bettina Willner’s ‘Mirror’ transforms CAVES Gallery into a surreal, introspective landscape where identity, memory, and the subconscious converge. A series of glazed ceramic sculptures—sprawling across the ground—invites us to reflect on the fluid nature of self-perception 🪞
Some sculptures shimmer with reflective gold lustre glaze, while others are awash in dreamy hues of cobalt blue, teal, pale pink, and purple. Together, they create a mosaic of forms and colours that blur the lines between the body, nature, and imagination.
‘Auricle’ and ‘Sixth Sense’ resemble rock-like mountain forms with grounded, compact structures, their golden surfaces evoking the richness of geological formations ✽
‘Sun Incarnadine’ draws you into its lavender-like form, with organic shapes and delicate holes that evoke the tip of a flower. Its purple and blue tones ripple with a sense of quiet vitality, pulling you closer to explore its intricate details 🪻
The ‘Untitled’ series stands over a meter high adorned with swirling, bending patterns in shades of blue and teal. The details are reminiscent of contour lines on a map or coral formations beneath the ocean.
In ‘Heart-full’ gold glaze drips upwards, connecting to rich purple tones creating an almost bodily form. This work feels anthropomorphic, as if it’s a physical manifestation of emotion—rich, layered, and brimming with vitality 🌟
Willner’s work draws from feminist interpretations of surrealism, expanding on biomorphic traditions to explore the subconscious. Her sculptures—part shell, part flower, part human—embody transformation and the fluidity of identity. Textured surfaces and hidden layers, like details obscured beneath gold glazes, reflect the depth of the feminine experience.
In ‘Mirror’, clay becomes a vessel for emotion, memory, and imagination. Willner bridges the human and organic, inviting us to step beyond reflection and into the multifaceted, shifting self ✦
Words Scarlet Thomas @luminosa.artscene
