Lyndi Sales ‘Deep Sky Survey’ at Whatiftheworld

Deep Sky Survey is the name of Lyndi Sales’s latest exhibition which runs to 14 July 2012 at Whatiftheworld’s impressive new location at 1 Argyle Road, corner Albert Road, Woodstock. “The body of work investigates the existential questions presented to us by science and its metaphors, man being a ‘symptom’ of the universe at large” explains the artist’s statement.

Sales has an impressive list of prizes and achievements, the most recent of which was appearing as one of three official representatives of South Africa at the last Venice Biennale. Whether one is happy about the transparency, or lack thereof, of that selection process, the current abstract works demand to be seen. Satellite Telescope dominates the main space, a multi-media installation of laser-cut radiant Perspex which is simply breath-taking. Swirls and whirls of iridescence snake through the gallery, suspended at chest level. The mirror-like material reflects us and makes us part of the work and the astrophysical world depicted.

More familiar, earlier works using paper laser traceries are upstairs but it is the six Perspex constructions on the ground floor which caught my eye. Highly finished, glossy and glitzy and very desirable, the large works seem designed to grace a Clifton architectural gem.

The constructions were influenced, we are told, by the blurring of the artist’s sight due to a personal eye problem. For me, this links their subject, infinite areas of space, with the intimate nature of personal vision. An exciting show.