The Great Supper by Sara Shakeel

First displayed in 2019, Shakeel was awarded the Young Artist award Commission transforming NOW Gallery into a three-dimensional banqueting scene saturated with Shakeel’s trademark crystals. The Great Supper is an assemblage of seemingly everyday objects. Traces of an intimate family meal are situated at the centre of the gallery, inviting the viewer in to be part of a conversation. The stage is constructed from unassuming objects which have been carefully placed together; a table, dining chairs and crockery, framing Shakeel’s meal. The scene is dramatized by a saturation of glass crystals, propelling us to view the staples of domestic life through an altered lens. Shakeel’s meticulous work expresses a subversive, witty dialogue through sculptural form and will explore and celebrate the gregariousness of the family table. Inanimate objects become the main players, an assemblage and modern day still life scene. Sparking conversations around food, family ties and ultimately the perceived value of banal and ‘ordinary’ objects, Sara Shakeel’s The Great Supper invites visitors to observe the ephemerality of the simpler pleasures in life. Having gained notoriety for ‘breaking the internet’ multiple times on Instagram via her works, Sara Shakeel is renowned for conveying human emotions through striking and stylish collage works, rendering landscapes and portraits, to create alluring digital, and more currently, three-dimensional crystal works. Shakeel has recently collaborated with Linda Farrow, The Wallace Museum, Evian, BMW, Browns, Mercedes-benz, has been named as one of Disney's Create 100, and has been featured in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Art Plugged, Forbes, ELLE Decor and the Evening Standard.