Textile meets porcelain in Shimmering Real: Perception and the Spaces Between

HB381 presents Shimmering Real: Perception and the Spaces Between, a two-person exhibition by Swedish artists Camilla Iliefski and Eva Zethraeus, on view from March 6 – April 18, 2026. The art exhibition brings together two practices that have developed in parallel for more than two decades. “Rooted in a shared educational background at HDK School of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg, Sweden, the artists’ work is connected through an ongoing investigation of balance and imbalance, material sensitivity and the interaction between colour and organic Form,” HB381 notes in an official release.

Though both contemporary artists work with different mediums, the exhibition establishes a dialogue between the soft, tactile qualities of hand-tufted textiles and the delicate yet structured presence of porcelain sculpture. “Despite their material differences, the works articulate a common visual and conceptual language grounded in process detail, and a deep commitment to craftsmanship,” notes the art and design gallery. Rather than producing collaborative works, Iliefski and Zethraeus approach the exhibition through a shared conceptual framework. Individual pieces unfold as a constellation within the exhibition space, responding to one another through proximity, scale, surface and rhythm.

Iliefski’s hand-tufted tapestries are characterised by vibrant chromatic gradients and rounded forms. Within irregular borders, wool fibres are trimmed to varying heights, creating depth across the surface. Colours produce the impression of movement and waves of light.  “Iliefski’s textile works move in the borderland between the abstract and the figurative. Inspiration is drawn from nature—vegetation, landscapes, surfaces, sea and sky—and from the landscape’s transformation over time,” the New York-based gallery explains.

Zethraeus’ practice centres on a slow, process-driven engagement with clay. Working primarily in porcelain, she creates intricate biomorphic sculptures that exist between representation and abstraction. Each piece is composed of individually hand-thrown elements that are assembled and fired multiple times, allowing glaze and light to interact across the surface. “Inspired by marine life, Buddhist gardens and viruses, the artist examines the beauty and phenomena of life cycles and replication and the unpredictable variances that occur,” the HB381 notes.

Together, the works of Iliefski and Zethraeus form a cohesive sculptural landscape. Shimmering Real invites viewers to move between surfaces and forms, observing how material differences generate visual rhythms and spatial tensions. “Rather than articulating a singular narrative, Shimmering Real proposes a relational mode of perception—one that foregrounds coexistence, vulnerability and mutual dependence as fundamental conditions within both natural and sculptural systems,” HB381 concludes.