A Hand Is Not A Cage

Alice Macdonald and Joana Galego

6th of November - 7th of December

Soho Revue presents A Hand is Not a Cage, a duo show by Alice Macdonald and Joana Galego.

Exploring quotidian experiences carried out in the private spheres of our homes, Alice and Joana’s works delve into these routines as positive structures with public impact; caring hands that hold us.

Throughout the work, hands play a pivotal part in symbolsing relationships; tucking into bed, washing the dishes, peeling an orange, becoming a comforting, building presence that seeks to nourish rather than presenting as rigid boundaries that can often be associated with adulthood and routine.

And so the work itself begins to tell a story of becoming through habits and tasks, opening the viewer up to the possibility of embracing the gentleness of a routine that builds us, and helps us grow. Whilst routine may offer structure to some, through the work a dialogue opens up to one of boundaries blurred. This even seeps into the very forms the work takes as the artists share their multi-disciplinary practices, using collaging techniques with the canvas itself. Rather than being defined as a ‘painter’ or ‘ceramicist’, the artists both seek to simply make something with their hands, about something they love, for the people they love.

This is a highly personal exploration of the duo’s work, paying homage to the friendship accrued over eight years, begun at the Royal Drawing School and blooming over a series of residencies in the U.S.A and Scotland. In preparation for this exhibition, both artists shared the same studio space in rural Oxfordshire to create the work for ‘A Hand is Not a Cage’.