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EXHIBTION IMAGES | PRESS RELEASE | ARTIST PAGE

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ELIAS HANSEN – HOLDING PATTERN, HOLDING FAST
On view:  August 10 – 31, 2026
79 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, NY
For more information please email contact@halseymckay.com

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Halsey McKay is pleased to present Holding Pattern, Holding Fast, a focused exhibition of new hanging light sculptures by Elias Hansen, on view from August 15 through August 31 at the gallery’s East Hampton location. The exhibition marks Hansen’s return to Halsey McKay with a new body of suspended sculptural works that expand his longstanding investigation into glass, light, and improvised construction.

Known for combining traditional glassblowing techniques with found materials, electrical components, hardware, and hand-built supports, Hansen approaches sculpture as an open-ended process where refinement and improvisation coexist. His works often reveal their own construction, allowing straps, chains, wiring, clips, and fasteners to remain visible as essential compositional elements rather than concealed mechanisms. This transparency of process gives each sculpture a distinct physical presence, balancing delicacy with structural tension.

The new hanging light sculptures transform illumination into both material and subject. Colored blown-glass vessels become luminous containers for networks of glowing bulbs, coiled wiring, and suspended hardware. Hanging freely from chains and rigging systems, the sculptures occupy the gallery like illuminated organisms—at once industrial and intimate, engineered and handmade. Their shifting reflections and saturated color create an atmosphere that changes as viewers move through the space, emphasizing the relationship between object, architecture, and light.

Throughout his practice, Hansen has embraced the inherent unpredictability of glass alongside the practical realities of fabrication. His sculptures frequently merge meticulous craftsmanship with spontaneous assembly, resulting in works that feel simultaneously provisional and resolved. In these new pieces, the visible systems of suspension become an extension of the sculpture itself, suggesting both vulnerability and resilience while drawing attention to the forces that hold the works in equilibrium.

The exhibition continues Hansen’s exploration of sculpture as a living assemblage—where illumination, gravity, transparency, and material improvisation converge. Rather than treating light as a means of display, Hansen positions it as an active sculptural medium, animating each work from within and transforming familiar materials into emotionally resonant objects.

Elias Hansen has exhibited internationally in solo exhibitions at Halsey McKay Gallery, V1 Gallery (Copenhagen), Anat Ebgi (Los Angeles), Cooper Cole (Toronto), Maccarone (New York), and Team (bungalow) (Los Angeles), among others. His work has also been included in numerous museum and gallery exhibitions throughout North America, Europe, and Japan