Artists included Jonathon Webb USA,Maslen & Mehra Australia/UK,Michal Chelbin Israel, Marilene Oliver Britain, Fereydoun Ave Iran, Tara Sosrowardoyo Indonesia, Sui Jianguo China, Per Wizen Sweden, Lars Siltberg Sweden, Genia Chef Russia, Olga Tobreluts Russia, Ivan Pinkava Czech Republic, Jivanii RedMark Jamaica, Kim Poor Brasil, Bernadette De Cunha India, Dimitris Yeros Greece, Viktor Koen Greece, Marc Wayland Britain, Edward Lucie-Smith,Paul Hodgson Britain,Ho Siu-Kee,Hong Kong China, Mark Soosar Estonia


Maslen & Mehra sponsored by:

Specialist light projectors by

Photography by Charles Francis

'The installation at the centre of the exhibition is the work of two London-based Australian artists, Tim Maslen and Jennifer Mehra, who work together using the name Maslen & Mehra. This is based on work they have recently done as resident artists at the Eden Project in Britain. The Eden Project presents over 100,000 plants belonging to 5,000 species, both in the open air and in two vast greenhouses on its site in Cornwall. Different kinds of natural environments, presented so that visitors can understand and appreciate how they function and sustain themselves. On its own web-site, the Project describes its mission thus:

"To promote the understanding and responsible management of the vital relationship between plants, people and resources leading to a sustainable future for all."

The installation created by Maslen & Mehra for the Frissiras Museum is fully in tune with this. It features a pair of figures - one male and one female - who appear and disappear in a tropical jungle studded with glittering miniature sculptures of butterflies.The jungle is a circular panoramic image created from photographs taken within the Humid Tropics Biome at Eden. We can perhaps think of them as the ancestors of all humankind - Adam and Eve. The message of the installation is that human beings are only in any way god-like when they are fully integrated with the idea of nature.

Edward Lucie-Smith
Catalogue essay excerpt July 2004