Stasis brings together works from three recent series by the Danish artist Trine Søndergaard exploring stillness and introspection.

There is a painterly quality to her work, with subtle use of light, colour, perspective and composition to enhance dramatic effect. The artist also combines contemporary and traditional elements in a manner that both seduces the viewer and confounds their expectations. Stasis will be Søndergaard’s first solo UK exhibition.

The three series in Stasis are:

• Interior, shot in several abandoned Danish manors, offers clear associations with 19th century Danish painting in the acute awareness and rendering of light.
• Strude began at a local museum on a small Danish island. Søndergaard was intrigued by the mask-like hoods on display called ‘strude’, traditionally worn by women to protect their faces against the elements.
• Guldnakke shows young women wearing gold-embroidered bonnets from the mid 1800s, popular among the wives of Denmark’s wealthy farmers. With the detail afforded by large formats, Søndergaard accentuates and unites the oppositional qualities of the soft skin of the girls’ napes and the hard metal threads of the embroidery.

As a central theme in the work, the artist explores what happens when the meeting between the gaze of the subject and the viewer is deflected and denied.

Stasis is a Ffotogallery exhibition specially commissioned for Wales and developed in collaboration with the artist. A new Hatje Cantz publication of the same name will be available from early December onwards.