Mirrors by Peter Rippon

A pool of reflective water can act as a simple mirror, and is all you really need to see yourself, but a “looking glass” lifts one’s appearance to a different perspective. Feng Shui teaches that an auspiciously placed mirror enhances ch’i. Robert Adam, the 18th-century Scottish architect, regarded mirrors as integral to expanding spatial illusion within a room. Strategically angled metal reflectors were used by ancient Egyptian builders to carry sunlight into the excavation of their pyramids.

This collection brings together a selection of Peter Rippon’s mirrors made between 1994 and 2025, reflecting his longstanding interest in the mirror as both a functional object and a means of shifting perception. Rippon is drawn to the ambiguity that occurs when looking at a mirror: the eye moves between the object itself and one’s own reflection, making the viewer an active part of the work. Within this visual tension, function and ornament, object and image become intertwined, creating what Rippon describes as a kind of poetry between looking and being looked at.

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Image Credit: Sofie Kjørum Austlid