Joanna Whittle - Statement

Sigrid Holmwood’s work The Traveller’s Cabinet recalls the golden age of exploration. Taking the form of a kunst or wunder-kammer, The Traveller’s Cabinet takes a similarly playful approach to scale, consisting of a cabinet as both a small box and a small room. Rather than displaying artefacts collected from afar, it is the cabinet itself as an object that is the focus of interaction between viewer and viewed. By stepping into the painted world contained within, the viewer makes an imaginary journey through a seascape full of potential; promising islands and inviting vistas appear and disappear without ever being touched, the cabinet becomes a vehicle for the eye. The Traveller’s Cabinet traces a yearning back to the possibility of an original discovery, but in its failure, provides an immediate gratification in the pleasure of looking.