Alexandra Standen, works from Staged, 2022. Courtesy: the artist and THIS IS NO FANTASY.

THIS IS NO FANTASY presents, Staged, a new series of large-scale ceramic works by Alexandra Standen. Standen’s work explores our relationships to both physical and emotional spaces. Her work focuses on the subjective, cultural, and ideological meanings of material objects, examining the way objects and their relationships act as metaphors for human behaviour.

As Standen creates and the works begin to accumulate around her in her studio, she finds herself feeling more like a performer than an artist – with her creations the audience members. Slightly intimidated by their scale and growing number, they stand so statuesque on their cinder blocks, watching her perform. Now, emerging from her studio and on ‘stage’, arranged on their central platform in the gallery, they evolve from spectator to performer. Where she felt subject to their forms and resonating presence, this role is now reversed and in relation to their audience, play their part, subject to the world around them. The new works in Staged draw attention to the dramatic effect the pieces have when interacting with each other on display.