Come on in – Small Promethean Acts installation
The beautiful gallery space at Artcore seems to have been made for this installation of 'Small Promethean Acts'. The circular room has a very high ceiling from which a circular glass mobile hangs in the centre. Eight small speakers hang from the ceiling in the middle at head height so that you can place them to your ear to hear recorded stories about small acts of care collected from the public in Derby. It is lit with a warm light from spots on the wall and there is light enough to see 20 or more small assemblage sculptures made from tiny stoneware figures that have been made to fit around found domestic objects.
Not all the work was made for this installation. Some existing work sits next to new work made from things found, mostly on the streets, during the residency - like a serving platter, a Ruskin bowl, a child's hoover toy, plates, and a teapot. Others are older items that were found and kept over the years, like the singer sewing machine, an old typewriter, some taps, a string pot and a dustpan.
The sculptures are displayed on old white furniture of different sizes, used as plinths and arranged in a semi-circle ending in a snail shape that you enter to listen to the stories. They do not illustrate the stories, that are told quietly in a small hum that emanates from the speakers
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The more I research salt the more connections it seems to have with the human condition, culture and identity.
I wanted to use the residency as an opportunity to really consider the medium I work with. To explore its properties, to play with it, to learn about it, to understand its benefits and limitations. Playing with materials is such a vital part of my artistic process; it allows me to experiment and expand my thoughts, seeing the materials move, change and react allow me to visually transfer text-based research and ideas through symbolism. I will not adopt a masterly tone and bore you, rather allow me to take you on a visual journey
Both salt and water are essential and detrimental to our existence. The first part of this process was seeing what would happen to a chunk of Himalayan salt under a running tap within a few minutes the water created a hole within the salt. What was dry on the surface was now glistening and part translucent.
