Nancy Lupo's artistic journey, as explored in her novel 'Meow Meow Real Estate' and her exhibition 'Several Chickens Later', offers a captivating exploration of the artist's quest for a sense of belonging and the fragility of our fantasies. Lupo's work delves into the contemporary disorientation of home finding, where successive rentals and sublets leave us increasingly tenuous and untethered. This theme is vividly portrayed in her novel, where the narrator's dream house remains an elusive mirage, flickering at the heart of the text.
One of the most intriguing aspects of Lupo's work is her ability to transform the mundane into the extraordinary. In her exhibition at Spike Island, Bristol, she uses yellow napkins in protective plastic cases to create a disorienting effect, akin to the insomniac time of night which is also morning. This subtle yet powerful effect is a testament to Lupo's skill in manipulating light and space.
Lupo's sculptures, such as 'The Enclosure', are highly polished replicas of Victorian bay windows, slightly elongated to allow visitors to sit inside. This intimate and playful element adds a layer of complexity to the work, inviting viewers to reflect on their own fantasies and the tenuous nature of their own sense of home.
The 'tellers', ground-level, wilted pyramidal sculptures, are another fascinating element of Lupo's work. These sculptures, formed from layers of glue, patterned paper towels, and pearlescent paint, are often repurposed between shows, their signification apparently leasable. In 'Disko', they became abstract stand-ins for icebergs, relating to a massive calving event Lupo witnessed in Greenland. In Bristol, they fold and wilt pathetically under the laminations of glue, enacting their failure to be anything really.
Lupo's work is not just about the physical objects she creates, but also about the emotional and psychological states they evoke. Her use of yellow napkins in 'Hark' creates a sense of ambiguity and pathos, while the 'tellers' in 'The Mirage' evoke a sense of thwarted majesty. These sculptures are moorings, securing the dream to some kind of material reality, but they are also loose and fugitive knots, reflecting the fragility of our fantasies.
In conclusion, Nancy Lupo's work is a powerful exploration of the human condition, where the search for a sense of belonging and the fragility of our fantasies are inextricably linked. Her ability to transform the mundane into the extraordinary and to evoke powerful emotional responses makes her work a must-see for anyone interested in contemporary art and the human experience.
