Viewing  Nature reimagined by Rebecca Manson at Josh Lilley

Evoking life and death, fragility and strength, the “natural” wonders in Rebecca Manson’s exhibition, Leave Love Behind, at Josh Lilley chart the extremes of our ecosystems, while offering inspiration for our own resilience. Detached wings of moths, crafted from hundreds of pieces of porcelain, are latched to the wall, while a giant ceramic cabbage – a vegetable that can withstand extreme seasonal shifts – plays host to chrysalises. Delicate stained glass works hang from the ceiling, their porous compositions recalling the feeding patterns of the Japanese Beetle, an invasive species that crafts lacework for subsistence.

The exhibition is a tribute to the US-based artist’s recent trip to the archipelago Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean, a region where nature’s ability to thrive is tested to the max. Leave Love Behind takes us on its own expedition to a more ambiguous land, one with a lingering sense of both ominosity and hope.