Having only just graduated from London’s esteemed Royal College of Art, fledgling artist Malene Hartmann Rasmussen has a decidedly bright future ahead of her. That is if the delicately dark ceramic installation she presented at this year’s Royal College of Art SHOW is anything to go by. Fascinated by making toy-like creations, that on closer inspection offer up intriguingly dark overtones, Rasmussen tells us how she wants her work to “look like a very skilled child could have made it, clumsy and elaborate at the same time”. It would be one very talented child who pulled off this work however, for Malene’s art is beautifully crafted.

The elaborate, childlike scene has been composed with a wickedly tongue-in-cheek sense of surrealist humour; the planks borrow from Richard Woods’ famously cartoon-like wooden patterns, whilst the burning logs appear to be human hearts, typifying her infatuation with sinister, Gothic fairytales. With a unique style, fascinating use of materials and strong narrative to her work, we can see big things for this Danish graduate…