I’ve honestly been terrible at keeping this newsletter updated, but I do have something to tell you about this week. My work is included in a group show curated by Leah Rom at Gogga, open by appointment for the next couple weeks.
On view is a piece close to my heart, a lattice of these forms I call spider hands, the practice I named this substack for.
These are sculptures I started making around five years ago. My work went through some big changes in the aftermath of my mum’s death… I was stretching into abstraction, botanical forms, scurrying away from figuration. I melted down and became a puddle of imaginal cells inside the chrysalis of the studio. It took a long time to emerge again, and these intimate sculptures speak to that process.
To me, spider hands are points of connection. Most of them start as small pieces, the size of my hand. I pinch out their clay, spider fingers entwine with mine. They are relational, characterful. They give voice to the clay, I can have conversations with them, but instead of words they speak in shapes. When the light casts their shadow, it’s as if they stretch out, wriggling free, reaching for other life forms.
They are simple, playful, a kind of warm up exercise, something I do first in the studio, how I get my hands thinking. But they are also more than that, they have come to represent a crawling back to myself after a period of disassociation. There’s something joyful in them, not sure how else to explain it.
I imagine one day an installation with hundreds, crawling all over a light filled space. But for now, go see this piece at Gogga!
Thanks for reading, as ever I love to hear if anything strikes a chord with you, please reach out and let me know.
Fingers and Toes at Gogga
Open hours: Sunday July 27 1-4pm, Sunday August 3 1-4pm.
Or by appt, please contact leahrom00@gmail.com
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