Ruth Watson, Kosmos (detail), 2016-24. Courtesy: the artist and Sumer, Auckland.

Sumer presents Kosmos, an exhibition of new and recent sculptures by Tāmaki-based artist Ruth Watson. This is the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery.

Kosmos, the exhibition’s title, also serves as title for one of the central works in the show: a work which comprises a large globe of brushed aluminium, upon which a dense accumulation of found souvenirs have been adhered. On close inspection it becomes apparent that far from arbitrary, each object relates specifically to its specific locale on the globe. Yet when one sees them collectively they would cease to be seen as any specific thing-in-itself, but rather they become simple forms—growths, protuberances; structures akin to crystals, icicles, stalactites, or corals, barnacles, parasites.

The artist chose ‘kosmos’ (German for cosmos) as it is closer to the Ancient Greek, ‘kɒzmɒs’: which unlike the modern English, refers not only to the universe, but also its nature, order, and appearance (the artist also points out is also the etymological parent of cosmetics). In this exhibition these ‘objet’, trinkets, encrust various other things too. Some are somewhat prosaic and not entirely unexpected: a small treasure cabinet, a colonial-style hall table, a mirror; others become more surreal, more distorted and strange — ‘unheimlich’: a house altar perched upon a vintage table with unusually long legs, a softball bat (more weapon than sporting equipment), a gauntlet-like bracelet, a ladder with a broken leg held up by a set of archaic history books. With its combination of chrome gold, faux-mahogany and pops of day-glo plastic, the overall effect is glittering and mesmeric.

Follow this artist