The Fullness Between Shadows is a solo exhibition by Plymouth-based artist Ashanti Hare, whose work is deeply connected to their heritage as a descendant of the Windrush Generation. Hare combines sculpture, movement, and performance to explore memory, ancestry and the ways people, place, and spirit are connected. Their practice invites viewers to engage with both the physical presence of objects and the energy of the bodies and histories they represent.
The title, The Fullness Between Shadows comes from Bakongo Cosmology, a study of the origin and nature of the universe from the Bakongo peoples of Central Africa. It sees life as an ongoing cycle between this world and the otherworld, “between the shadows.” The exhibition reflects on the fullness of life, inviting visitors to consider the layers of existence, memory, and energy that occur alongside our own. The artworks in the exhibition explore the space between the visible and the unseen, the physical and the spiritual; encouraging reflection on how past, present, and ancestral presence shape our experience of the world.
At the centre of the exhibition are new sculptural artworks: large-scale, wearable forms that stand freely and hang within the gallery. Inspired by West African traditions of honouring the dead and Caribbean histories, these works incorporate seasonal plants from Kingsbridge, textiles, and representations of wildlife. Together, they reflect the intertwined legacies of Africa, the Caribbean, and Britain; evoking the presence of past generations within a contemporary gallery space.
Alongside these sculptures, Hare presents a series of assemblages, combining antique furniture with different materials and found objects. Drawing on historical methods of African sculpture, which bring together elements that are both mundane and sacred, natural and manufactured, these works create meaningful relationships between objects and spaces. Often used for ritualistic, spiritual or social purposes, assemblage becomes, in Hare’s hands, a way to connect personal and collective histories. Many of the objects are second hand, sourced from charity shops in Kingsbridge or were gathered locally from nature, grounding the work in the textures of everyday life.
Community collaboration is central to Harbour House’s art, gallery, and movement programme. For this project, Hare worked with adults we have supported through our partnership with social prescribing from the local area to create spaces for movement and expression. These workshops, co-led with movement practitioner Lauren Pomfret, drew on ritual-inspired gestures and carnival traditions. The resulting movements, filmed by artist Oliver Sutherland, are projected onto one of the sculptures, Sunsum, infusing it with the collective energy and spirit of the participants.
By combining ancestral symbols and practices with community engagement, The Fullness Between Shadows offers a space for reflection, connection, and celebration.
A free drop-in mask-making activity is also available in the gallery for visitors of all ages.
This exhibition is supported by the Henry Moore Foundation.
Special thanks to:
Paul Ager, Ryan Curtis, Lauren Pomfret, Oliver Sutherland, Charlotte Valerio, Abi, Kathy, Kevin & Mickey
About Ashanti Hare:
Ashanti Hare is a disabled, multidisciplinary artist from Brixton, South London currently based in Plymouth, Devon. Hare graduated from Arts University Plymouth in 2022 and went on to win the CVAN Platform Graduate Award 2022 & the AUP X KARST graduate residency. They make artworks responding to local and global majority histories within the specific context of museum & institutional archives including objects & histories around religion and folklore. Hare has an ongoing interest in decolonising museum archives and platforming the influence of the above communities on British history– particularly Caribbean cultural practices, as a descendant of the Windrush Generation– through implementing traditional folkcraftmanship to create sculptural textile installations and ritual performances that reflect the embodied human experience.
Hare seeks to change the way people interact with museums and archives while also creating accessibility in contemporary art spaces for marginalised communities.
Recent commissions & exhibitions include: River That Never Rests - Iteration II for Invasion Ecology - Public performance, film & installation, 2024; Journey to Mpemba - Submerged Bodies: Mythical Reflections in South West Waters for Foreign Bodies - University of Exeter funded, sculpture, 2024; River That Never Rests - ACE & Exeter City Council funded, public performance & film, 2024; TWENTY THREE NINETEEN - Against Apartheid, 2023; Joto Se - Sculptural installation, 2022.
