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Transformations
27 November - 5 February 2010
To coincide with the turning of one year to the next Flow gallery
presents 'Transformations' exhibition running from December
through to February 2010 showcasing the work of fifteen artists.
The exhibition is concerned with the transforming of the old
into something new. It will explore the different ways artists
alter the existing, discarded and forgotten objects to give them
new significance, unexpected beauty and new life.
CJ O'Neil alters already existing ceramics by adding new
patterns and cutting away geometric forms from them. An
interest in hidden meanings, layers, secrets and contemplation is
expressed through her works. Through rejuvenating discarded
objects with new patterns, the story of these objects is
continued and added to. The works create links with our past,
rekindle old memories and evoke new ones.
Grant McCaig explores the use of silver and the meanings that
we attach to it as a material through his work. "I enjoy playing
with concepts of preciousness, combining the silver with the
throwaway and the discarded, to create familiar but alternative
objects".
Jo Lawrence creates puppets and objects from discarded
materials. Photographic faces add an uncanny sense of identity
to each small scaled 'human' object.
Barbara Massey and Helen Rogers are concerned with the
need to consider the environmental impact of our activities.
Recycling is imaginatively integrated into their contemporary
design practice by weaving with discarded materials. They
incorporate old comics, magazines, outdated maps or calendars,
and plastic carrier bags.
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| Barbara Massey & Helen Rogers |
Rory Hooper reinvents old jewellery which is defective and
abandoned by their owners by retrieving its original value.
Sentimental or other, these objects that once had significance in
someone's eyes, symbolized meaning and fulfilled a certain
function. Smashed with a single blow of a hammer these pieces
are reformed into accidental and abstract shapes then made
into unique individual pieces jewellery and small objects. Old is
transformed into new, restoring the lost promise of success back
into each and every found jewel.
Maria Militsi explores the power of absence that makes us look,
the dimension of the lack and the space left by a missing object.
In an attempt to absorb what already exists rather than adding
to the world, Militisi collects objects that have suffered a loss;
the loss of their owner or the loss of their function. This triggers
a desire within her to complete them, to reassess their function
and to fill their empty space with precious metals.
Ed Teasdale is passionate about trees and particularly about wood: "the smell, density, bulk, texture, warmth, and the cleanness". Aware of
its global and local value, and the sheer volume and variety of existing
woodwork, he has chosen to concentrate on utilising second-hand
timber found in the open, which through weathering has developed
patterned surfaces. For Teasdale using the found material has
important, environmental and aesthetic messages.
Gareth Neal will be creating funky new furniture pieces from found
boxes with drawers by playing with their scale and volumes.
Inspired by stories of shipwrecks and forgotten underwater worlds.
Ruth Tomlinson takes inspiration from the forms and colours of the
sea. Pearl, coral and second hand stones are combined with silver to
create a collection that conveys the transient cycle of nature, growth,
and decay.
Claire Coles sources vintage wallpapers from markets and charity
shops, ranging from acid flocks to floral patterns, and then cuts layers
and machine stitches these papers together to create a range of
different scenes and illustrations. Stitching together various textures
and patterns creates an intricate and layered effect within her designs,
where it appears that the pattern of these papers begins to grow and
come to life. This range consists of, brooches, framed artwork and
commissioned wallpapers.
Eleanor Glover has a strong interest in narrative and employs this
interest through the use of recycled materials, evoking stories from
their past and adopting a second life through their transformations.
Through subtle interventions by Sofie Lachaert's, discarded and
forgotten objects are given a new significance, an unexpected beauty
and take on a new life, to become useful again. Lachaert's turns old
coins into brooches. The value is altered from practical to artistic.
Miniature images once representing power and wealth now become
adornment. They contain hidden secrets and stories like Lachaert's
silver 'Candlestick with a ring' and recall images of the nightly hour
and the bedroom. The replacement of the traditional plain ring with
that of a Wedding ring adds another dimension, referring to marriage
and eternal faithfulness.
Astrid Keller presses magazine pages together into large blocks.
Shapes are then turned out of the material with a technique
commonly used for wood. The lines which are caused by the pictures
in the magazines almost look like the annual rings of trees. In this
sense the work is a return to the material paper is made from and
origin of paper itself.
David Bielander views his art pieces as games of distortions, with
confusions of identity by using unexpected materials such as the
beetle brooch made from a steel spoon!
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