The Wonder Room

The Art of Christine Pike, MA

Exhibition

3rd - 21st October 2023

“My work is eclectic in terms of subject and scale, so this exhibition allows me to give free rein to my imagination. I hope it will intrigue and delight visitors just as cabinets of curiosity once did.”

Introduction

From 3 - 23 October Norfolk artist, Christine Pike, will take over the iconic Custom House in Kings Lynn, filling it with her striking and fantastical sculptures.

Antlered figures, transforming hare women, dancing rats, and more will occupy the ground floor, which is the temporary home of the Greyfriars Art Spaces collective.

“I'm fascinated by the 'wunderkammer' aesthetic and the Custom House makes a perfect-sized Wonder Room, which is the literal translation of the term - hence the title of the show.”

The Exhibits

Wild and sassy, the Hare Women

embody freedom and a

true sense of self.

Ideas of change, life, nurturance, renewal - these are the ‘Big’ themes of my work, but I also like to be playful and gentle and make work that make people smile, rather than beat them over the head with an idea. I think this is where the ideas about potential and liminal space enter in: I love to make work that leaves a gap for others to make up their own narrative about its meaning.

The Hare Women have been sculpted

in paperclay and resin over a wire armature

and painted with artist pigments and acrylics.

The surface has been sealed with a matt varnish

and a final coat of beeswax applied to give a

soft sheen and durable finish.

Hare Woman 1

H: 19 cm

£300.00

Hare Woman 2

H: 24 cm

£350.00

The Exhibits

When your life is lived on the margins

‘carpe diem’ is the watchword -

seize every opportunity to party hard!

I have a soft spot for the creatures humans dismiss as vermin. We live in a

fragile ecosystem and every element is

necessary - even the bits we’d rather not

acknowledge.

My work speaks to the overlooked, the ignored, the shunned and says:

“You are noticed, you are loved”.

Party Rat 1

H: 17 cm

£210.00

Party Rat 2

H: 16 cm

£195.00

Paperclay and resin over a wire armature, painted with artist pigments and acrylics. The surface has been sealed with a matt varnish and a final coat of beeswax applied to give a soft sheen and durable finish.

The Exhibits

An egg, watched over tenderly by a

forest spirit. It is her sacred duty...

Eggs fascinate me and feature often in my work. At the same time fragile and full of potential. Who knows what will be the story of the new life contained within?

Precious

H: 34 cm

£750.00

Paperclay and resin over a wire armature, painted with artist pigments and acrylics.

Mounted on a piece of polished burr elm.

The Exhibits

Celtic Warrior

Mounted on beech

H: 26 cm

£120.00

Foliate Head

In gilded frame

H x W 20 cm x 20 cm

£75.00

Hare Mask Earth Spirit

H x W 20 cm x 15 cm H x W 10 cm x 10 cm

£70.00 £55

What lies behind the Mask?

Decorative and meditative little beings.

We all wear masks in different situations.

They are designed to conceal and reveal at the same time.

Paperclay and resin, painted with artist pigments and acrylics.

The Exhibits

Bliss (After the rain)

Mounted on beech

H: 28 cm

£200.00

Ceramic, mounted on beech

Bunzie

H: 14 cm

Various available, from:

£175.00

Ceramic, paperclay, wood

The Exhibits

A little Pagan Altar...

Two summers ago my cat caught a wren that had flown into the house.

Fortunately it escaped, leaving a couple of tail feathers behind.

Wrens are secretive birds and you mostly don’t see them - although their song is loud and distinctive.

I am glad the wren survived and I wanted to find a way to presere and honour this unexpected encounter.

Inside the cage figure, inside the egg, inside the glass bottle is displayed one of the tiny feathers.

Reliquary for a Wren Feather

Mixed media

H: 28 cm

£425.00

The Exhibits

The Universal Goddess

H x W x D 20 cm x 5 cm x 19.5 cm

£425.00

Basic Goddess Starter Set

In an era of disposable spirituality here is a deity with multiple heads and personalities so you can switch your alleigeance to a belief system as easily as switching heads!

Paperclay heads, plastic doll body, mixed media. Vintage display box with protective perspex cover.

The Exhibits

What can I say? I adore cats!

The eyes of a cat hold a thousand stories...

Mephistopheles - you handsome beast!

I never met him in person, but felt compelled to paint him after seeing a photograph of a stunning tabby Maine Coon.

The Cat’s Eye painting is one of several I have done, and is inspired by the mysterious eighteenth century fashion for ‘lovers’ eyes’: it was said that a lover could recognise his beloved from her eyes alone...