Dark, Joyful and Weird
CHRISTIAN SMITH
Consuelo Radclyffe’s fantastical figures have been stopping people in their tracks on the Queens Road ever since they first appeared in the window of Neighbourhood pottery studio late last year. They’re just too strange to walk past. Masked revellers with pointed ears and long noses. Children conspiring in whispers. Mermaids and invisible friends. Now, a whole crowd of them are poised to take over Neighbourhood’s gallery space for its second member show of the year. It should be quite a spectacle.
“My figures are often described as dark, joyful and weird,” says Consuelo. “Childhood memories are my main inspiration. My sculptures are made from clay, sometimes with clothes designed uniquely for them, sometimes accompanied by props found in junk shops or scrap yards – objects that trigger my memories and hopefully also recall stories for others.” It’s this story-telling aspect that makes her figures so intriguing. They cast a kind of spell, like they have truths or secrets to share.
Titled Caretas: Fantasy and Folklore, the new show is Consuelo’s first in Hastings, but she’s previously exhibited the length and breadth of the country, and in her native Brazil. She has lived in the UK for 40 years now, but she hails from Salvador de Bahia, “a very pretty city, by the coast, with miles of beaches.” It’s in a region particularly rich in folklore with its own carnival tradition, darker and more homespun than the more famous festivities in Rio.
Bahia is the home of the caretas, the eerie masked figures that are Consuelo’s trademark. Their history is murky, but they are said to be based on a notorious drunk, who, when banned from a carnival, returned wearing a scowling mask – and carrying a whip.
Consuelo’s passion for clay began as a child. But it really took off in mid-life, when she left her job and took a BA in ceramics and mixed media at Westminster University in Harrow. She moved to Hastings from London last year – “There is such a friendly atmosphere here, with lots of creative people.” She soon joined Neighbourhood, becoming one of its first members. “I’m so glad I found them. I have a studio at home, but I think you need to be with other people, sharing your ideas. Neighbourhood is fantastic for that. It’s a real community.”
The show will feature work of all shapes and sizes, some old favourites, like the caretas, some new, including the weird and wonderful poster piece, a girl pushing a wagon full of imaginary friends. “I just want to share what I make,” she says. “I want people to smile.” Looking at Consuelo’s work, it would be hard not to.
The launch party for Caretas: Fantasy & Folklore is 4pm-7pm on Saturday, 21 June at Neighbourhood pottery studio, 73/74 Queens Road. All are welcome.
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