Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid
"Out in the hall, before even entering the Koffler Gallery, Penelope Stewart's Vanitas makes itself known with the sweet, honeyed aroma of beeswax...While medium stands as an integral, inseparable part of any artwork, within Vanitas the correlation between medium and the overall positioning of the installation – particularly its narrative aspect – could be strengthened. Stewart works masterfully with wax, but without a more cohesive grounding, the sheer labour and virtuosity are not done justice. The pure material seductiveness probably outweighs many of these concerns for most visitors, but something alchemical should happen between form and content, rendering the work more than the sum of its parts. Vanitas doesn’t quite manage the right mix."
Koffler Gallery to August 31, 2014
