IN MY HOUSE 6
This group show incorporates a textually rich display of female artists, including Beth Wise, Roberta Weissman Nagy, Joanna Andrew and Julie Clark. Whilst these artist's works are visually very different, their concepts are unified through themes of surface, texture, artistic process and atmosphere; using the mediums of process based photography and sculpture, painting and cinematic film. In presenting these pieces in the domestic space, projection is utilised as a universal medium in which to further explore surfaces within the house and create a connection between art and space. Physical printed images were also used as an extension of sculptural practise; mimicking textures within the artworks to collate together with textures in the home.
Beth Wise explores duration, materials and traces left behind within her multidisciplinary art practise. Here she presents a series of works created using photocopying. In describing her work she states; “These pieces are created by moving materials across the glass of the photocopier, finding a way of drawing with light. Creating something that uses the movement of my body but that i had limited control over helped establish process as an important part of my practise” This work exists as a result of chance and within this project is displayed not in a room, but on various surfaces throughout the house. The uneven textures of each surface bring a physicality to the photocopied images, the various lines within them are interrupted and misaligned in a visually interesting way. Each image conveys an identity or character in relation to the surface it is interacting with. The repetitive aspect of creating these photocopies can subtly relate to the repetitive domestic processes that occur in the home (walking up and downstairs, cooking, opening and closing blinds) and the objects or surfaces that can signify themes of duration. Each photocopied composition displays a spectrum of colours and textures that are captured differently upon each surface inviting a sculptural element to the work.
Roberta Weissman Nagy shares her video piece ‘Space with No Surface’ in the garden. The video (edited by Christian Pinzan with music by Matthew Raetzel) depicts Nagy in the performing role, and her character’s journey into the sea. There is innate focus on sound and surface, the rippling of the water and the rhythmic tapping of the paddles against the cobbled beach as she journeys closer to the sea create a hypnotising soundscape. The pale brick of the garden wall seemed a fitting surface to present such a cinematic artwork, with its enthralling soundtrack allowed to echo and resonate in the open air during sunset and reinforce the meditative yet theatrical qualities of the short film.
Joanna Andrew presents a photographic documentation of her process driven sculptures. Working mainly in textiles, sculpture and photography, Joanna’s interests derive from textures and manipulating materials to explore their properties. Joanna speaks of her practise; “ My work derives from an element of play as i work closely with processes and materials to engage, connect and understand their individual characteristics. From this i seek to find emotive and personal connections that i can manifest and embody into sculptural forms.” The three photographs displayed in the bedroom are printed onto thick card and were manipulated by twisting and scrunching the paper to mimic Joanna’s sculptural process resulting in a more three-dimensional form. There is a contradiction between the softer more delicate fabric depicted in the image and the visceral more rigid quality of the card they are printed onto that has been further manipulated. Their materiality and process is explored through both photography and sculptural presence in this presentation. The bedroom is reduced to its material components, and we are directed to explore the contrasting surfaces within it; the soft bedding, the curtains, the cold metal curtain pole, the surface of the bedside table and the chrome lamp. In Joanna’s words, the forms sit somewhere between soft and hard, movable and immovable, embodying feelings of tension and release.
Displayed above the stairway is Julie Clark's painting ‘Glacial’. Clark’s practise is concerned with the natural environment and our connections to it. Her abstract style is enhanced as an illuminating projection. Projecting this work onto a surface above the viewer’s usual gaze elevates the concept of the sublime environment she chooses to paint. There is a visual similarity to this presentation and James Turrell’s skyspaces, and can emulate the idea of an image and its context existing amongst a space and its architecture. The work becomes more of a sensory experience. Clark talks about her concept in her submission; “My pieces aim to capture and highlight aspects of traditionally regarded ‘unspoilt’ yet changing environments such as glaciers and the sea. Homes and habitats are increasingly threatened by melting glaciers and rising sea levels” These concerns about climate change are then directly presented in the home, inviting beauty but also emphasising environmental issues and the declination of these landscapes.
