GLIMPSE OF LIGHT & DARKNESS
BY ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
B. 1971 KAVADARCI, NORTH MACEDONIA
Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva is an internationally recognised, contemporary visual artist working across sculpture, installation, print and architectural interventions. Hadzi-Vasileva was commissioned by the Vatican for the Pavilion of the Holy See, at the 56th International Art Exhibition with her work Haruspex (2015) and represented the country of her birth, Macedonia, at the 55th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, with Silentio Pathologia (2013).
In 2023 she was awarded a MacDowell fellowship with an Anne Stark Locher & Kurt Locher Fellowship. Elpida has received further awards including from Wellcome Trust, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Arts Council England and Ministry of Culture of Macedonia. Her artworks have been commissioned and developed in urban and rural sites, in interior and exterior spaces, including The University of Nottingham; Djanogly
Gallery, Nottingham; Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London; Nymans Gardens; Fabrica Gallery, Brighton; Mottisfont Abbey, Romsey; Pied à Terre, London; Gloucester Cathedral, Bennachie, Aberdeenshire; L’H du Siège, France; Kilmainham Gaol Museum, Ireland. Permanent commissions can be visited at Preston Park, Brighton, The University of Nottingham and Kilmardinny House, Glasgow.
Hadzi-Vasileva’s artworks are in public collections including Luxelakes a4 Museums, Chengdu, China; The Vatican; Soho House; Pooseum, Australia; Office of Public Works, Dublin, Ireland; Križanke, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, Napoli, Italy; Osten, Skopje, Macedonia; MIMA, Middlesbrough and New Hall Art Collection, Cambridge and private collections around the world.
GLIMPSE OF LIGHT & DARKNESS
The Orangery, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden
Willoughby Gerrish
Thirsk, Yorkshire
6 July – 30 September 2024
Glimpse of Light & Darkness is the latest series of works exhibited at the Orangery that showcases domestic scale sculptures crafted from found wood, including bark, boughs, branches, and offshoots. Each piece is meticulously hand-crafted and gilded with 23.5ct gold leaf.
These works draw inspiration from the artist’s larger public artworks, most notably The Gilded Elm (2023)—a 6m-tall preserved trunk of one of the Preston Park Twins, a pair of ancient elms in Brighton’s Preston Park. These elms, some of the oldest in England, were felled due to Dutch elm disease. For this memorial piece, the elm was reclaimed, with its internal form gilded in the artist’s signature style, reflecting a deep interest in the natural world.
This theme is evident in past works such as Ambush (New Forest, 2000), Resuscitare (Mottisfont, 2013), Rapture (Nymans, 2016), and Eurydice Prevails (University of Nottingham, 2019). Through gilding, the artist aims to highlight specific elements, people, and places, using gold to elevate, celebrate, and honour their significance.
The studio works presented in this exhibition are more formal explorations of sculptural form, shape, and scale. They also evoke a reflection on the Anthropocene—the profound impact humans have had on the planet’s climate and ecosystems.
Untitled (2024)
Jasmine, 23.5ct gold leaf, chard and oiled 65cm (h) x 39cm (w) x 28cm (d) On plinth
£6,500
Loganberry tree, 23.5 ct gold leaf, oak base 65cm (h) x 23cm (w) x 25cm (d) Free standing
£9,500
Dancers 2 (2022)
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
English Elm, 23.5 ct gold leaf and metal 56cm (h) x 36cm (w) x 18cm (d)
Wall mounted
£9,500
Segment XIII (2024)
Oak and 23.5ct gold leaf
81cm (h) x 230cm (w) x 40cm (d) Free standing (on metal triangle plates)
£12,000
M (2024)
(2024)
Oak, 23.5ct gold leaf, chard and oiled 52cm (h) x 54cm (w) x 40cm (d) On plinth
£9,500
Untitled
Drawing made with decomposing mushroom and maggots
60 x 85 x 3.5 cm (framed)
£1,950
Boletus (2016)
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
Drawing made with decomposing mushroom and maggots
60 x 85 x 3.5 cm (framed)
£1,950
Maggot I (2013)
Drawing made with decomposing mushroom and maggots
60 x 85 x 3.5 cm (framed)
£1,950
Maggot II (2013)
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
Oak, 23.5ct gold leaf, chard and oiled, 141cm (h) x 61cm (w) x 43.5cm (d) Free standing
£16,000
Luna (2024)
Hedera helix, 23.5ct gold leaf, chard and oiled
48cm (h) x 121cm (w) x 24cm (d) On plinth
£14,000
Etendre (2023)
Jasmine, 3.5ct gold leaf, chard and oiled 51cm (h) x 54.5cm (w) x 40cm (d) On plinth
£9,500
En Pointe (2024)
Archival print on Hahnemühle German Etching (310gsm) signed and hand gilded with 23.5ct gold leaf
Edition of 20 25cm x 35cm (unframed)
£500
The Gilded Elm (2022)
Lavender, 23.5ct gold leaf, chard and oiled 62cm (h) x 42cm (w) x 42cm (d) On plinth
£8,000
Untitled (2024)
Segment XIV (2023)
English Elm bark, 23.5 ct gold leaf, metal 19cm (h) x 6cm (w) x 2cm (d) Wall mounted
£2,000 ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
Segment XVI (2023)
English Elm bark, 23.5 ct gold leaf, metal 20cm (h) x 8cm (w) x 4cm (d)
Wall mounted
£2,000
English Elm bark, 23.5 ct gold leaf mounted on elm square 20cm(h) x 32cm (w) x 7.5cm (d)
£4,000
Segment I (2023)
English Elm bark, 23.5 ct gold leaf
mounted on elm square
10cm (h) x 14cm (w) x 8cm (d)
£2,000
Segment IV (2023)
8cm (h) x 11cm (w) x 5cm (d)
£2,000
Segment III (2023)
English Elm bark, 23.5 ct gold leaf mounted on elm square
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
English Elm bark, 23.5 ct gold leaf mounted on elm square 18cm (h) x 10cm (w) x 10.5cm (d)
£3,000
Segment VII (2023)
Segment VI (2023)
English Elm bark, 23.5 ct gold leaf mounted on elm square 13cm (h) x 15cm (w) x 11.5cm (d)
£3,000
22.5cm (h) x 7.5cm (w) x 10.5cm (d)
Segment X (2023)
English Elm bark, 23.5 ct gold leaf mounted on elm square
£4,000
26cm (h) x 7.5cm (w) x 11.5cm (d)
£4,000
Segment XII (2023)
English Elm bark, 23.5 ct gold leaf mounted on elm square
ELPIDA HADZI-VASILEVA
CV
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 Glimpse of Light & Darkness, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden, Thirsk, UK.
2021 10 Years of The Body, Zari Gallery, London, UK.
2019 Flavorings, Luxelakes a4 Art Museums, Chengdu, China.
2018 Internal Beauty, Grant Museum of Zoology, University College London, UK.
2017 Angels and Animal Delights, St John’s Waterloo, London, UK.
2017 An Intimate Gaze, Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London, UK.
2016 Making Beauty, Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham, UK
2016 Inherent Beauty III, Osten Gallery, Skopje, Macedonia.
2013 Silentio Pathologia, Representing FYR Macedonia, La Biennale di Venezia, Italy.
2012 Small Objects, Makers Cabinets, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Brighton, UK.
2011 The Wish of the Witness, Pied a Terre, Michelin star restaurant London, UK.
2011 Inherent Beauty 2, Museum-Gallery Kavadarci, Macedonia.
2010 Inherent Beauty, Public Room, Skopje, Macedonia.
2009 Motectum, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, UK.
Selected Site-specific Commissions
2025 Cusp, Kirkstall Forge, Kirkstall, England
2023 The Gilded Elm, Preston Park, Brighton, England.
2019 Eurydice Prevails, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England.
2017 Trails and Tales, Bearsden, East Dumbartonshire, Scotland.
2016 Rapture, Nymans Gardens and House, Nymans, England.
2015 Fragility, site-specific commission End of Life, Fabrica Gallery, Brighton, UK.
2014 HA[SOFT]RD, Engage & MIMA, Middlesbrough, UK.
2013 The Colour of Red, Natural Bennachie Project, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
2013 Resuscitare, ArtSOUTH, Mottisfont Abbey and Hampshire County Council, UK.
2012 Visual Industries, Billboards’ for Ars Akta in Skopje, Macedonia.
2011 Compulsive, Obsessive, Repetitive, Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, UK.
2010 Transpire, St Bede’s Catholic College, Bristol, UK.
2010 Raison d’être, Southgate Project, Bath, UK.
2010 Spitalfields Sculpture Prize, Allen & Overy, Bishops Square, London, UK.
Selected Group Exhibitions and Projcts
2024 Treasure House, Willoughby Gerrish, Chelsea, London, UK.
2024 London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London, UK.
2023 Seismic: Art Meets Science, Giant Gallery, Bournemouth, UK.
2023 British Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London UK.
2023 Royal Sculpture Society, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden, Thirsk, UK.
2022 Vitae, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden, Thirsk, England.
2022 An exhibition of small things with big ideas, White Conduit Projects, London, UK.
2022 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK.
2021 The Touch, Future Ecologies, National Gallery of Macedonia, Skopje, Macedonia.
2021 DI CARTA / PAPERMADE 5Th edition, Palazzo Fogazzaro, Schio, Italy.
2020 SI MUOVE, Diplomatic Art, Timisoara, Romania.
2020 Cure 3, Bonhams, London, England.
2020 25 Years, Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London, England.
2020 Summer Exhibition, Royal Society of Sculptors, London, England.
2020 The 20th Hands Across the Pacific Art Exhibition, Chengdu, China.
2018 Cure 3, Bonhams, London, England.
2018 Agency, Eagle Gallery, London, England.
2017 Osten Biennale, Gevgelija, Macedonia
2017 International Residency Prize, Sidney Nolan Trust, The Gallery, Presteigne, England
2017 Reoccurring Undulation VI, Coastal Currents, Shiwreck Museum, Hastings, England
2017 A Scientific Encounter, Musée d’Anatomie de Montpellier in Montpellier, France.
2016 Osten Biennial of Drawing, Osten Gallery, Skopje, Macedonia.
2016 Artificial Realities, East Wing Biennial, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK.
2016 Transfiguring, Imago Mundi – Macedonia collection, Italy.
2015 Haruspex, Vatican City at Pavilion of the Holy See, La Biennale di Venezia, Italy.
2015 A Foreign Encounter, Galerie FOE 156, München, Germany.
2014 In the shadow of the breast, Seventeen Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland.
2013 Reflection: white-black or not, Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, Napoli, Italy.
2012 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, England.
2012 Skin and Texture, Market Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland.
Selected Residencies
2023 MacDowell, Peterborough, USA
2019 A4 Artist in Residency International Programme, Chengdu, China.
2016 Eternal Place-Creative Space, Sidney Nolan Trust, Presteigne, Wales.
2013 Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award, MIMA, Middlesbrough, UK.
2011 Pied a Terre, Artist in Restaurant at a two Michelin starred restaurant in London, UK.
2008/9 Gloucester Cathedral, Artist-in Residence, Gloucester, England.
2007 Butterflies in the Stomach l’H du Siege, Valenciennes, France.
2005 Residency at The Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. Supported by ACE.
2000/1 Berwick Gymnasium Fellowship, Berwick upon Tweed, England.
Awards & Grants
2021 Arts Council England, R&D for Preston Park Gilded Elm, England.
2020 Arts Council England, R&D for Fragility and Permanence, England.
2020 Arts Council England, R&D for Breathing Again, England.
2017 Grand Prix, Osten Biennale for Awarded Authors 2017, Macedonia
2016 Golden Osten Award, Osten Biennial of Drawing 2016, Skopje, Macedonia.
2014/15 Wellcome Trust Small Arts Award.
2010 September 7 award by the National Assembly of Kavadarci, Macedonia.
2009 European Cultural Foundation, STEP Beyond Mobility Fund.
2002 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, USA.
Education
1996-98 Royal College of Art, MA in Sculpture, London, UK
1993-96 Glasgow School of Art, BA (Hons) Fine Art in Sculpture, Glasgow, Scotland
For a comprehensive CV please see here.
CONTACT
elpi@elpihv.co.uk
www.elpidahv.art