T.(——–) ‘Pressure, Light, Fire’ is a new body of work by artist Daniele Sambo, which will be exhibited at The Glasgow School of Art’s Garnethill Gallery from 17 January until 14 February 2026. The exhibition consists of a series of blind embossings on paper, photograms, and small terracotta sculptures created using tidewrack (man-made tidal debris) collected on the Scottish coastline and made during a residency at Hospitalfield, Arbroath in October 2024. This work is responding to a lexicon learned in the past four years, following Sambo’s own diagnosis and subsequent recovery from a rare congenital illness. The precarious nature of our coastal habitats mirrors the fragility of our bodies; where ’T.’ stands for both Teratoma, a congenital tumour that contains different types of tissues (bone, cartilage, muscle, etc.) and the coastal detritus of Tidewrack—both materials foreign, crucially, to the environments they inhabit.
Pressure, light and fire refer to the conditions required to make elements of the work. These embossings were made by pressure on paper and clay to draw a parallel with the imbalances in CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) liquid pressure inside the dura mater and brain. The pressure of various organs on the teratoma, once it reached a certain size, induced hydrocephalus, high pressure in the brain, damaging the optic nerves and producing visual distortions, headaches, and seizure-like symptoms. The decision to work with blind embossing, without using ink, was a conscious attempt to introduce the idea of a dormant syndrome or invisible illness. The photograms created in the darkroom are suggestive of X-rays, MRIs and other medical imaging. Pit firing the clay makes use of fire and like in an hospital incinerator, the materials burn and disappear forever, leaving a scar-like mark on the clay surface – a reminder of their passage, and a symbol of their 40-year-long coexistence with the artist.
The artworks that Sambo presents all use light either in the process of creation (fire pit and the bulb of an enlarger), or in the case of the blind embossing, it is the lights and shadows on the creases of the paper that allow the embossing to become visible. The resulting prints and artefacts have been created using a process inspired by medical and geological museum displays and archives.
There will be an exhibition preview event on Friday Jan 16, from 5pm till 7pm. Admission to the preview is free, but tickets should be booked in advance through Eventbrite.
For any further information please email press@gsa.ac.uk
Exhibition runs:
17 January – 14 February 2025
Garnethill Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art
Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 10am – 4.30pm
Sun – Closed.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
About Daniele Sambo
Daniele Sambo is a visual artist from Venice, Italy, living and working in Glasgow. His work often uses specific elements and material qualities found in the landscape and responds to it using primarily photography and prints. The process sometimes involves engaging with small groups of people to re-interpret daily life and the hidden distinctiveness of places.
Daniele studied at the IUAV Institute of Architecture of Venice (2008) and GSA (M.Des, 2011). He works at GSA in the Library and as a Visiting Lecturer. He presented work at the Venice Biennale, Malmo Fotobiennal, Copenhagen Photofestival, NGCA Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, MMSU Rijeka Museum of Contemporary Art, Stills Gallery, StreetLevel Photoworks, BLM Bevilacqua la Masa Foundation, among others. He has been the recipient of residencies at The British School at Rome, Viborg Kunsthall, Pépinières Européennes, Cardiff Contemporary, Fine Art School of the University of Porto, the Glasgow City Council creative communities programme (2019-2023) among others.
Sambo undertook an interdisciplinary residency at Hospitalfield, Arbroath, in October 2024, which offered an opportunity to create a new body of work that reflected upon the fragile nature of health and well-being.
About The Glasgow School of Art (GSA)
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world.
Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education. Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3500 students and staff across architecture, design, fine art, innovation and technology in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1500 students annually.
