Exhibition Description:

Artist Micah Adams creates art you’ll want to keep in your pocket. These “pocket sculptures” or “fictional keepsakes,” as he calls them, are intended for private use and reflection. They are intimate objects that invite you to slow down and engage with them. There is a warmth to his work, a kind of sentimental feeling, much like the attachment one feels toward a beloved memento. As a child, Adams was fascinated by Lego and its puzzle-like properties. Some of that fascination has carried over into his current art practice. Through a combination of critical play, free thinking, and daydreaming, he explores how vastly different objects and materials can come together to create unexpected meanings and associations. This often involves the clever and precise manipulation of coins, metals, wood, banknotes, and other materials, using modern tools such as a micro-welder. He also employs ballpoint pens or coloured pencils on paper to illustrate different world currencies and found objects, reimagined to coexist in absurd and humorous ways. Installed in the studio or gallery, his work is meant to be discovered by accident, inducing a pleasant surprise—much like finding a coin on the sidewalk. With works placed in unconventional locations or hidden in plain sight throughout Glenhyrst, Adams has transformed the gallery into a site of wonder, surprise, and anticipation.