Gemma Holzer’s work renders a mixture of personal nostalgia and reimagined histories. Her pieces suggest ancient cultures, featuring idols of strange creatures, inhabiting nondescript spaces. They allude to artefacts involved in funerary practices, vessels that hold long forgotten memories.

 

Holzer draws inspiration from standing stones and other Neolithic sites; relics from distant pasts that still hold physical space in the present. This narrative is echoed in her paintings, as she positions references to ancient imagery in contrast with newly manufactured representations, bringing past and present together.

 

A sense of tension/violence is introduced in Holzer’s cut-out paintings by way of oppressive steel structures, where isolated figures are suspended by chains within metal frameworks. The artist explores themes surrounding physical discomfort and emotional strain through her depictions of these strung up creatures. Feelings around disconnection are expressed through averted gazes. Like the relics they reference, their stories remain unknown.