Zoë Marden: HADAL ZONE

Roman Road is thrilled to present HADAL ZONE, a solo exhibition by multimedia artist Zoë Marden. Through an alluringly dimly-lit and immersive installation, encompassing new aquatic and sensuous sculptures, Marden invites viewers to take a dive into the depths and potentials of their internal world within a space that explores the darker dimensions of desire.

6000 metres below sea level is the darkest region of the ocean known as the hadal zone, named after Hades, the god of the underworld. The deepest ocean trenches are the least explored and the most extreme marine ecosystems, in which only the freakiest creatures survive the lack of light and maximum pressure. This vast and unknown space mirrors the depths of our subconscious, where lies what Carl Jung calls “the thing a person has no wish to be” or the shadow self.

It is in these dark spaces or darkrooms that we can learn to dive deep into our shadow selves and find ways to embrace the parts that we fear. The darkroom, also known as the backroom or the playroom, is a space that invites exploration of your deepest fantasies, and is historically often found in a queer space or at the back of a rave, nightclub or sauna. The room is dark with little or no lighting, where under the cover of darkness you can, in a collective space, reveal your inner world.

The focus of Marden’s installation is a black central pool with a ceramic fountain acting as a hole or an orifice, a stand-in for the holes through which you can receive and give pleasure. The water bubbling out from it is an expression of desire and release. The central pool provides access to an exploration of the darker realms of desire in all its many forms: physical, spiritual and emotional. The ceramic sculptures along the walls echo forms that may appear in our subconscious, creatures that we see in our dreams yet do not know their names.

On the occasion of the exhibition, a special sonic performance by the artist in collaboration with Mohammed Rowe, will take place at the gallery on Friday 01 December at 7 PM, followed by a DJ set.