Grace Mirams - Glimmer

Public Record presents ‘glimmer’, the second solo exhibition by Grace Mirams (1996, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa NZ). Informed by her time spent in rural Japan, Mirams' works hope to shift the observer’s gaze inward through a collection that pays attention to the spatial and ritualistic aspects of traditional Japanese houses. Monoprinted gestures over delicate silk and solid steel materialise the tension between shadow and light. The collection expands on tvhe structural and functional bearings of Mirams’ practice, which is deeply rooted in her desire to renegotiate the ties between life and art; between function and form.

Screening and dividing objects allow the viewer to inhabit her work, while the prints are in full motion -  quickly swept or scribbled gestures with rich textural qualities sit within silk. Mirams leans into the specific nature of printing, where the darkness is irregular and uneven. Inks are mixed with solvents and layered over one another. A differing practice of steel fabrication is expanded beyond framing, and into sculptural and functional works in an ode to traditional Japanese space-making. Where beauty grows from the realities of life and where light has a place to rest, referenced through Tanizaki Jun'ichirō’s essays.

Grace Mirams

Born in 1996, Grace Mirams grew up in Ōtepoti, Aotearoa New Zealand. She holds a bachelor of Visual Communication Design with a minor in Fine Arts, achieving first-class honours in 2018 from Massey University (CoCA). Her practice considers ideas of materiality, creative process and timelessness. Spanning across the fields of design, drawing, printmaking and welding. Mirams’ mark making is instantly recognisable as she works intuitively, with an interest in experimentational processes and the juxtaposition of materials.

Her work operates between the real world and through her imagination, fluctuating between photographs and memory as reference to her pieces. Compositions appear playful, performative and even accidental at times as she embraces the feeling of being in a constant state of play and discovery. Mirams’s sensitivity to design is evident in exhibitions as she creates a visual language between each piece.

Heavily influenced by her time exhibiting in Gifu, Japan during August 2023 - Grace has become increasingly romantic about investigating the contemporary art and craft scene in Japan. On a venture guided by Yuka O’Shanessy (Public Record) & Misa Kuromoto (Gallery Crossing), Grace was led into loins of rural Japanese craft culture, visiting many makers throughout her journey. Research from this time has greatly informed her 2024 exhibition, with enriched learnings of the spatial awareness, patience and assiduity to craft.

Past exhibitions include ‘I’m at the river, I’ll meet you by the sea’ Gallery Crossing, 2023, ‘this hand from stone’  Public Record, 2022, ‘The keep and it’s keepers’ The Keep, 2022, ‘from here on’  ADJØ Gallery, 2021, ‘Mondegreen’ at Tory St Art Space, 2018, ‘Being Human’ at ENA, 2018.