‘Play’ becomes a potent condition, within which Ismene King creates a series of works that explore thoughts around embodied relationality, kinship, vulnerability and self-encountering. Departing from existing structures of entanglement and binding, such as wreaths, knots and rigging equipment, Ismene creates hybrid ceramic clusters, oscillating between symbolic ornaments, ‘eel/snakes’ – figures often explored in her practice – and operational apparatuses.

The ‘eel/snake’ is a fictional crossbreed of animalistic features and sculptural markings. It becomes a sphere of exploration, both in regards to reflecting personal narratives and elements of femininity, as well as in regards to morphological research. Its various ways of movement, organic or modular, are re-articulated into a ‘code’ of interlocking elements. These become dynamic systems, simultaneously anchors and points of departure for expansive networks of relation, support and recurrence.

*Excerpt from the exhibition’s text, “Encounters in wreath-knot-chain formations”. Breeder, Athens 2021.