Mary Redmond and Sara MacKillop

Similar Variance/The Floating World

Sat 21 August – Sun 10 October 2010
Press view: Fri 20 August, 15:00

 Both artists have developed their practice through travel, day-to-day experiences and incidental encounters with materials and found objects. They explore ideas around cultural value and production, whilst embodying the idea of making-do-and-mending.

Redmond and MacKillop use the language of Modernism to create works with a precarious and ephemeral quality, in contrast to the architecture of DCA galleries.  Their work is particularly poignant during a time of economic uncertainty.

 Mary Redmond uses a mixture of found objects and raw materials which are altered, shaped, bent, bashed or painted and then meticulously placed together, making it difficult for the viewer to distinguish between the found object and the hand-made.  These carefully placed pieces play with sculptural language: monumentality, balance, solidity and space.

 She describes her work as “something ordinary made strange”.  Fleeting visual and physical experiences are referenced through the combination of divergent materials – such as industrial fencing – with delicate coloured fabric. The work produced for The Floating World is inspired by her travels in Asia, creating an enigmatic landscape of chance incidents and encounters. 

 Sara MacKillop takes every day objects such as books, records, jigsaws, wallpaper and stationery and transforms them by following a few simple rules. In this way they resemble the working process of artists like Sol Lewitt or Daniel Buren. The origin of each object is never wholly obscured.

 “A lot of my work comes from wandering around and noticing. The objects I find are innately interesting and to a certain extent I’m just highlighting that quality, so in this way they find me.  However, once you notice a quality in a particular object you inevitably look for further examples.”

 The selection of often obsolete or ‘end-of the-line’ materials reference a cycle of redundancy. McKillop produces work with a wry humour and poignancy that hints at the absurdity of bureaucratic systems.

 Similar Variance/The Floating World is presented in two separate galleries, allowing the viewer to note the similarities and differences between the artists’ work.

 For further details on events programmed to coincide with the exhibition, including talks, activities and cinema screenings visit www.dca.org.uk

 The exhibition opens to the public on Saturday 21 August, 10:30am - 5:30pm

An informal gallery talk will take place at 2pm with the artists, Judith Winter, DCA and Helen Legg, Director of Spike Island.

For further details on events programmed to coincide with the exhibition, including talks, activities and cinema screenings, visit www.dca.org.uk