'Ancestral Gaze' is a unique collection of sculptures by the British artist, Chris Day, created from handblown & sculpted glass with micro bore copper pipe and recycled electrical wire.

The price shown is per artwork, please contact the gallery for details of all available works. The dimensions shown are the average size of artwork, excluding the steel stand. Stands are available in heights 100, 105 & 110cm.

The collection explained by Dr Emma Park:

After experimenting with an introspective direction for his Reflections of Resistance, Day has made it central to Ancestral Gaze, a collection of five masks inspired by depictions of the face in African art. The focus here is on the use of coloured but transparent glass as a medium for the mask, an item which is normally intended to conceal the face behind it. The use of glass, in contrast, exposes the identity of the imagined wearer. In particular, the exaggerated proportions of the eyes draw attention to what for Day is the most interesting part of the face: ‘the eyes are the entry point to your soul.’

In making these self-revealing masks, Day puts his African heritage on display for all to see. The risks involved in this self-exposure are symbolised by the fragility of the glass, which, as it is blown out through the wicker-like copper cage surrounding it, embodies the individual’s search for free expression against both internal and external resistances. The tension between metal and glass perhaps also symbolises more practical limits on Day’s creative freedom: he still works from day to day as a plumber, fitting his art in when time and funding are available.

The experience of growing up mixed race, Day says, may be ‘hard to understand’ for people who do not fall into this category. Similarly, ‘being black is not a matter of what shade you are, it’s a matter of what you’ve been through.’ Even now, he still bears the ‘emotional scars’ of his past: ‘I don’t look at myself in a mirror. And I still find it hard to look into people’s eyes.’ Nevertheless, glass, not as a utilitarian mirror but as a material of art, has become his way of gazing both out at the past and into himself. ‘Glass should be used to engage with people… I hope that my ancestors are looking down on me and thinking, “Thank you for telling our story.”’

The artist can also create pieces to commission, please contact the gallery for further information.