House of Sweets - A Hansel and Gretel Story
2011
House of Sweets: A Hansel and Gretel Story, is a transcription of the Grimm fairy story, an imaginary mindscape into part of the stories archetypal or symbolic structure. The world of Hansel and Gretel to me is metaphoric of a whole self, two sides of the same psyche, a balance of male and female, brother and sister. The witch represents an overbearing and negative feminine force within their world, when she is present the siblings are divided, Hansel succumbs to the witches dark illusions and Gretel must work under the witch to try and keep concord while they plot their escape to freedom. My retelling endeavors to make comment on aspects of our own world where toiling to keep consumer culture attainable, in a culture that often equates prosperity with happiness where happiness is not always that simple.
• House of Sweets 2011 • Medium: Acrylic on Board • Status: SOLD/Private Collection • Prints: Can be requested, please use contact form on this website. •
• Evil Cupcakes 2011 • Medium: Acrylic on Board • Status: Available • Prints: Can be requested, please use contact form on this website. •
• And This 2011 • Medium: Acrylic on Board • Status: SOLD/Private Collection • Prints: Can be requested, please use contact form on this website. •
• In The Woods Part 1 - 2011 • Medium: Oil on Canvas Board • Status: SOLD/Private Collection • Prints: Can be requested, please use contact form on this website. •
• A Little Piece of My Heart 2011 • Medium: Acrylic on Board • Status: Available • Prints: Can be requested, please use contact form on this website. •
• The Witch 2011 • Medium: Acrylic on Board • Status: Please use contact form to inquire to paintings availability • Prints: Can be requested, please use contact form on this website. •
• In The Woods Part 2 - 2011 • Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper • Status: Please use contact form to inquire to paintings availability • Prints: Can be requested, please use contact form on this website. •
• Not so Sweet 2011 • Medium: Acrylic on Board • Status: Available • Prints: Can be requested, please use contact form on this website. •
• In The Woods Part 2 - 2011 • Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper • Status: Please use contact form to inquire to paintings availability • Prints: Can be requested, please use contact form on this website. •
The Exhibition
Harriet’s 2011 solo exhibition, ‘House of Sweets’ was shown at Belfast’s ‘Frame of Mine Gallery’ located at at 164 Ormeau Rd, Belfast. The opening night was September 1st the show ran for one month until the 7th of October 2011.
Here are some photos from the opening reception at the Frame of Mine’ Gallery Belfast:
Original Press Release:
Frame of Mine Gallery Presents
Harriet Myfanwy Nia Tahany
House of Sweets - A Hansel and Gretel Story
Harriet Myfanwy Nia Tahany is presenting an exhibition of exciting new works opening 1st September 2011. This will be Harriet’s first solo show this year, opening at the ‘Frame of Mine’ gallery at 164 Ormeau Rd, Belfast at 7.30pm. ‘House of Sweets – A Hansel and Gretel Story’ will show for one week until the 7th September.
Visitors to the exhibition will be in awe of Harriet’s unique and highly identifiable style of art, which will be a collection of paintings in acrylic and watercolour. The Frame of Mine gallery, is undoubtedly becoming known for show-casing cutting edge contemporary genres of art, including lowbrow, pop surrealism and urban.
Harriet’s new set of work takes inspiration from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, and also incorporate Jungian symbolism. We see how dark forces lure Hansel and Gretel into an enticing world of candy and cakes. Greed challenges the pair and Harriet’s images foretell their fate based on the choices they make. Whilst some details of the story have been altered, the archetypal structure is much the same. Using this classic fairy tale, Harriet portrays current issues presenting a social commentary about consumerism, consumption and the lure of the media. This set of work mirrors questions being asked by society about modern culture, materialism and the need for possession.
When we consider the rioting in modern day Britain in this context, we see the greed of the people who looted and destroyed communities in order to acquire the latest fashion, technology and
high end goods. People are still asking, why did these people riot? Many argue it is down to the role of mass media in society, that the intense marketing of highly desired items and the greed of those involved for “free” material goods overcame moral judgement – we have since seen that many of those involved were mere opportunists.
In Harriet’s exhibition we see that Hansel is trapped by his consumption, whilst Gretel is trapped by the witch – they are like two sides to the one coin. Harriet finds a resolve to this problem in her imagery, where Gretel manages to find a personal resolve to this dilemma, in which the dark illusions are melted away! You can expect nothing less than a plethora of mind teasers when you interpret the story as you walk around the gallery, a very typical tactic of Harriet’s, which her fans have come to love! You can find both Harriet and the gallery on Facebook. Or visit www.frameofminebelfast.co.uk and www.myfanwynia.com for further details
Written by Cerian Gilhooley.