Mani Kambo

Passage

Allenheads Open Door Residency Beyond

Natural elements, mystery, nature

Mythology, rituals and the mundane

Mello Issue No.1 my piece for the publication.

Featuring 17 other artists work inspired by the theme of Good Morning  

Riso Printed by Monno Studio

‘RIFT’ explores the lore surrounding fortune telling, dream states and the human psyche. Mani Kambo has experimented with various printing methods to create abstract, dream-like visuals, developing ideas explored in her recent exhibition, ‘Semblance’, at System Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne. Through collage and layered imagery, the work acts like fragments of memory left behind for the viewer to piece together. Kambo explores the inner spirit by drawing on her own personal totemic symbols. Influenced by her upbringing in a household filled with superstition, prayer and religious ceremony, she focuses on objects, routines and rituals distilled both from the everyday and mythology. She plays on the senses by creating her own scented objects, including hand-made paper mixed with lavender, traditionally used to aid sleep, to calm and believed to have healing properties. The scents trigger the viewer’s own feelings and memories: inducing a sense of nostalgia. In ‘RIFT’, Kambo uses video projection to connect the viewer to the fleeting moments of dreams; exploring the difficulty of memory and the sporadic, ever-changing nature of dream logic. The more we try to remember, the more fragmented and hazy it becomes. Whether remembering an image, a feeling, or colour, the vision is abstracted, elusive: are we really remembering or are we remembering trying to remember? 

An experimental evening of performances and film screenings by Wild Pop’s feeling yr thoughts night, an ongoing series of events that bring together performance, video and live music curating the line-up alongside The NewBridge Project.  

Semblance is a test-bed of ideas for work being developed for my upcoming solo exhibition at Vane gallery. Exploring the lore surrounding fortune telling and divine intervention.

In addition to the exhibition there was also a performance evening with artists Grace Denton, Heather Bonnie Reid, Lauren Vevers each one drawing inspiration from the idea of ritual and what it means to them to mark the closing of the show.

Janus. 2017 at 36 lime Street 

Preview 8th September 2017 - 18.00-21.00 My work is an investigation of the inner spirit where I draw on my own personal totemic symbols. Influenced by my upbringing in a household filled with superstition, prayer and religious ceremony. This work draws inspiration from Janus the Roman God of beginnings and transitions. Consisting of a multi screen installation using projection, tv’s and an OHP, creating an immersive and transient landscape. The screens mirror Janus’ ambiguous depiction of time, playing at once and relating to one another. Objects within the space act as tokens from a journey, like relics left behind from an ancient time. The works within the show have been creating during a months residency at Praxis Gallery within Commercial union house.

Cyanotypes and prints created in collaboration with printmaker Nick Christie (Incubate Experimental Printmaking) exploring the use of light and cyanotype exposure on materials such as plaster, paper, fabric using OHP, Digital projection and natural light. Janus is Supported using public funding by Arts Council England

Sunflower Eyes 2017

Exhibited in Vane Gallery,  Commercial Union House as part of international women day exhibition Exposing Form

Through nature we are reborn, from the earth we awake and in the earth we sleep.

Towards A Summoning 

Commissioned by Tyneside Cinema, True North, HOME. Funded by ArtsCouncil England ,2017

The piece is an experimental series of actions and triggers, which is influenced by Greek mythology, my own personal symbols and the everyday. Exploring the liminal space between these objects and their totemic lure.

Thia/ Perpetual

projection on 3 chiffon sheets

An exploration into the textures and terrain of the moon, this floating object within an abyss of space that was caused by Thia (hypothetical planet) colliding with the earth which caused the birth of the moon.

Exhibited in Commercial Union house 4th Floor as part of The Late shows, 2016

http://www.northernsoul.me.uk/late-shows-newcastle/

The Moon and Sixpence

In 2015 Mani Kambo and Hope Stebbing were awarded Tyneside Cinema's second graduate artist residency in partnership with Northumbria University. During their time with us they have created a work which brings together their individual practices in sculpture and moving image. The Moon And Sixpence combines film and sculpture to articulate their mutual interest in space and the urban environment. The work is focused on the object of the screen and the process of projected images. The screen is formed of perforated metal which is used as an emblem of decay and regeneration. The projected images are created through layering textures and materials of industrial and regeneration sites visited whilst on residency. Kambo and Stebbing play with the ’idea’ of cinema and experiment with the relationship between the projector and the screen. Referring to the relatively recent decline of 35mm film to digital formats and its effect on the cinematic experience from an object, (the roll of film) and physical experience (projection), to a more fleeting moment of inconceivable data (digital files). The installation of sculpture and film investigates this relationship and highlights the tension between screen and film.

October 2015 - January 2016 Graduate Artists in Residence at Tyneside Cinema with Hope Stebbing, in partnership with Northumbria University

https://vimeo.com/163567389 - Artist in Residence video by Northern Film Stars

There Is Something Of You Coded Into Me

Apple and Snakes poetry film competition Shortlisted 2015 and Winner of Best First Poetry Film and Audience vote

Test Cards

2014

Film Installation 14” Box Televisions x5

The cyclical nature of energy transfers from one place to another, continuously transforming, Images materialise sporadically but just as quickly as they appear they vanish; like pockets of memories out of sync.with no notion of the past present or future.

Installation video