After listening to her talk, I discovered her way of working was very relevant to the ideas we have been given in our brief this unit. She works with a multitude of different materials, ranging from chain mail, gold wire, shells and hair nets, through to balloons and washing up gloves. I particularly liked her installation from 2006 called 'Shells'. This was one of her site specific installations, located in the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester using the staircase space. She used the history of the building to begin designing. The house was commissioned by a a young wine-merchant and his wife, who lovingly appointed it and appreciated it, but failed to replicate this love in their marriage who split just after the house was finished and so it was sold. She worked with the sensuality and history of the area. Using 20,000 prised open mussel shells symbolising a brittle exterior, housing either hollow emptiness or a tender and vulnerable inner; a scene set for the emotional history of the location. These were then each stuffed with a deep burnt-red scrap of silk velvet which was symbolic of the wealth in their relationship. These links between the history of the house and the area are what I love about this particular installation.
'Shell'
Another one of her site specific installations also interested me. 'Echo'which she also created in 2006, was an installation that consisted of 10,000 hairnets containing strands of used violin bow-hair and located in the the decommissioned church St. Mary's in Castlegate, York. 'Echo' was a response to St. Mary's as a vessel for the traces of profound contemplation, sound, memory and human faith.
I love the subtle connection between her installation and the history of the building; and the way now, those used violin bow-hairs hang silently in the delicate hair nets.
'Echo'
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