X EYE ROOM
ADORNED
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA & LORNA JOHNSON
5 JUNE - 31 AUGUST 2025 AT EYE ROOM
THE ART COURT X
EYE ROOM
The Art Court was founded in 2022 by Courtney Spencer to sell, source and commission art for public and private settings across the North of England.
We curate temporary exhibitions in beautiful spaces throughout Yorkshire, offering a welcoming and accessible way to discover and buy contemporary art. We believe that living with art you connect with can enrich your everyday life. By getting to know your taste, space, budget and practical needs, we help you find artwork that feels just right.
We’re delighted to continue our collaboration with Eye Room. This is the sixth in a series of exhibitions hosted by the independent optician in their Scandinavian-style space in Leeds city centre. Already known for their carefully curated range of eyewear and distinctive sense of style, these exhibitions bring something extra to a visit, whether you’re browsing frames or discovering new artists.
The exhibition is open to all and can be enjoyed in person six days a week or through this online catalogue.
OPENING TIMES
Mon - Fri, 10 am - 6 pm Sat 10 am - 5 pm All welcome
Eye Room, 9 Mill Hill, Leeds LS1 5DQ
INTRO
Adorned brings together the work of artists Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva and Lorna Johnson in an exhibition about materiality, value and transformation. Both artists draw on traditions of embellishment, yet their approaches are distinct, and it is in this contrast that a thoughtful conversation emerges.
Elpida works with 23.5 carat gold leaf, transforming organic waste materials into sculptural forms that invite reverence and reflection. Her practice elevates the discarded, drawing attention to what is often hidden or overlooked, and imbuing it with new meaning.
Lorna, in contrast, uses low-value, mass-produced or temporary materials to question our perceptions of worth. Through careful construction and aesthetic sleight of hand, she challenges viewers to reassess what they see and what they assume about luxury, status and permanence. Her work often plays with deception and surprise, prompting a closer look that reveals the gap between appearance and substance.
Their work offers a meditation on what we value and why, encouraging us to reconsider our assumptions about beauty, authenticity and the stories objects tell. While materially distinct, both artists engage in acts of transformation, revealing the power of surface, structure and symbolism to shift how we see and feel. The result is an exhibition that asks us to look more closely, not only at the work itself but at the values we bring to it.
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
B. 1971 KAVADARCI, NORTH MACEDONIA
Elpida Hadzi-Vasiileva is a contemporary visual artist working across sculpture, installation and architectural intervention. Her practice explores subjects that are often challenging to confront, including disease, death and faith through work that is both conceptually layered and materially rich.
Elpida is known for her use of extraordinary materials, ranging from animal by-products to precious metals. Her use of 23.5 carat gold leaf to adorn discarded organic matter invites reflection on transformation, beauty and sacredness. Her work often balances delicacy with grandeur, drawing the viewer into a quiet yet powerful encounter.
She represented North Macedonia at the 55th Venice Biennale and was later commissioned by the Vatican for the 56th Venice Biennale’s Holy See Pavilion. Elpida has also worked in collaboration with Michelin-starred chefs, creating installations in fine dining settings that challenge perceptions of value, consumption and aesthetics.
Her artworks are held in public and private collections internationally, and she continues to produce ambitious, site-specific commissions and exhibitions that respond to the particularities of place, history and material.
LORNA JOHNSON
B. 1982 LONDON, UK
Lorna Johnson is a British visual artist working across sculpture, installation, assemblage, collage and photography. Her practice explores ideas of heritage, drawing on personal experience as well as broader cultural histories. She is particularly interested in materials that are often seen as temporary, mass-produced or of low value, using techniques of embellishment and presentation to subvert assumptions around worth and permanence.
Some of Lorna’s recent work is informed by her practice-led PhD at the University of Leeds, which investigates four archaeological hoards discovered in Yorkshire. Through this research, she explores how objects carry meaning
and how value is constructed, imagined or reinterpreted. Other pieces in the exhibition were made outside the framework of her doctoral studies, continuing her long-standing interest in materials, display and the interplay between value and perception.
She has exhibited work at Leeds Art Gallery and Leeds City Museum and has produced commissions for the National Trust, the Churches Conservation Trust and private heritage organisations. Her work has been shown across the UK, Europe and the United States, and is represented by The Art Court.
Golder than gold I, II, III and IV (2019)
Metallic card
54.5 x 33 cm
£700 each (framed)
LORNA JOHNSON
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
Mouse Jaw II, III, V and VI (2020)
2 Mouse jaws gilded with 23.5ct gold leaf on conservation card (edition of 6)
10 x 10 x 3 cm
£210 each (framed)
LORNA JOHNSON
Stickpile, gold (2020)
Leather, string, plaster and acrylic paint
16.5 x 39.5 cm
£800
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA Game III
6 Mouse skulls gilded with 23.5 ct gold, mounted on board (2 of 6)
15 x 15 x 6 cm
£650 (framed)
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA Game I
2 Mouse skulls gilded with 23.5 ct gold on wooden board (1 of 6)
15 x 15 x 6 cm
£450 (framed)
A bed, a knot, a charm – fanciful coquille (2013) Oyster shell, beads, clay, metal crab bells, glaze (1 of 289)
10 x 6 x 5 cm
£100 (in acrylic box)
LORNA JOHNSON
Portable Grotto (1) (2013)
Wood bird house, clay, string, paper, bead, artificial moss
23 x 18 cm
£400
LORNA JOHNSON
Container, golden threads, woollen
material, card, thread and bamboo
12 x 13 x 10 cm
£600
LORNA JOHNSON
Homespun (2020)
Goldbrick Ends – left and right (2022)
Photograph, hand-finished with gold ink
(edition of 5)
60 x 60 cm
£600 each (framed)
LORNA JOHNSON
The Gilded Elm (2022)
Digital print of original drawing, Hahnemühle German Etching (310gsm), 23.5ct gold leaf (4 of 20) £550 (framed)
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
Looking Internally (2021)
Rabbit skulls and bones, gilded with 23.5ct gold leaf on wooden board
60 x 60 x 8 cm
£2,950 (framed)
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
Golden Jaw (2024)
12 rabbit jaw bones, gilded with 23.5ct gold on board (8 of 12)
30 x 30 x 8 cm
£1,950 (framed)
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
Mouse Star
30 Mouse jaws gilded with 23.5ct gold, on wooden board (1 of 6)
15 x 15 x 6 cm
£1,000 (framed)
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA Hear Me (2021)
23.5ct Gold leaf rabbit ear bones on conservation board (1 of 6)
27 x 27 x 3.5 cm
£1,350 (framed)
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA Shining (2021)
23.5ct Gold leaf rabbit skull bones on conservation board (2 of 6)
20 x 20 x 3.5 cm
£890 (framed)
15 x 15 x 15 cm
£1,250
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA Bible III (2016)
Caul fat sheets, perspex box on black wooden base
The exhibition is also available to view in person at Eye Room.
OPENING TIMES
Mon - Fri, 10am - 6pm Sat 10am - 5pm All welcome
Eye Room, 9 Mill Hill, Leeds LS1 5DQ
If you would like further information about any of the artworks or our personal art shopping service please contact us via the details below - we’d be delighted to assist.
Images courtesy of the artist and Lucy Forrester.
+44 (0)77 8618 1968