Materials Matter
Opening tomorrow: Materials Matter is a collaborative exhibition by two artists, bringing together a dazzling show of pattern and colour. Jacy Wall’s woven tapestries use deconstruction and playing with pattern and structure. Interventions such as stitching, patching and darning reflect a long time interest in the theme of mending. Bjork Haraldsdóttir's tactile and expressive ceramic art explores the interplay between three-dimensional architectural form and two-dimensional surface treatment.
Neither Jacy nor Bjork found their disciplines right away. Jacy originally studied Constructed Textiles at Middlesex Polytechnic, before specialising as a fine-art weaver. Her first big commission was three enormous wall hangings for the new NMB Bank headquarters in Amsterdam, which marked her move into tapestry weaving. Bjork Haraldsdóttir began her creative life with a BA and MA in architecture at the Glasgow School of Art and practised architecture for many years before turning to ceramics as her principal work.
Materials Matter came about because Jacy wanted to show how her work had evolved since the last time she'd exhibited at Stroud. She thought that showing her textiles alongside three-dimensional work would generate a great deal of interest in the exhibition. Bjork, with her uncompromisingly strong ceramic work, proved a promising collaborator. Jacy was drawn to the hand-drawn quality of Bjork's pattern design and her ability to relate the structure of the pattern with the curves of the pot.
"I have a strong feeling that 'Materials Matter' won't be the last time Bjork and I will be putting our work together in the same space!" says Jacy. "We both own pieces of each other's work now, and living so close to each other we can keep the conversations going, and be naturally aware of how each other's work is developing."
8 - 19 May 2019, Select Art Trail, Lansdown Art Gallery, Lansdown Road, Stroud GL5 1BB
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