Gods Finger, 2012

tendency

Lace aims to create encounters with the resplendent. God’s Finger was built in 2012 in response to an invitation to create a work that engaged specifically with the Circa gallery in Johannesburg. Lace chose to find a way to capture a transcendental moment and bring it down to earth. God’s Finger was the main installation in A Tendency Towards Complexity, a solo gallery presentation of multiple works. It is a sculptural crystallization of light moving a building’s exterior to its interior. Made from a precisely structured column of nylon threads, this imitation shaft of sunlight brings to mind Crepuscular rays, in atmosphereic optics it refers to those elusive moments when light from the sun appears to pierce through cloud and send rare, deliberate beams to the ground. Historically painters for the church called this phenomenon God’s Fingers, following on from this artistic tradition of attempting to capture the quality of light and drama in these natural occurrences, Lace creates a contemporary installation now free from canvas, patron or preset interpretation. The drama of Lace’s installation is heightened in the work by an additional step; the beam of light contains thousands of suspended shards of coloured glass, appearing to freeze time and solidify light the work throws all that seems true and permanent into question, without attempting to provide the answers.

BLace_Tendency1 BLace_Tendency2 BLace_Tendency3 BLace_Tendency4 BLace_Tendency5 BLace_Tendency7 BLace_Tendency8 BLace_Tendency9 BLace_Tendency10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photography by Anthea Pokroy

Bronwyn Lace catalogue_website