Feathers and concrete are now ensconced at an exhibition in Mile End-eliciting some comment as people go round. Feathers are something that people seem to relate to – on a fairly superficial level I suspect. . Not sure that they are an emotional signifier. If they are – of what?
It’s the concrete that forges the dialogue and forces the work out into a bigger space than it actually inhabits.
The piece has made me start thinking around this ability of some works to have greater presence than others. It is of course completely unrelated to size – which makes a work monumental. Some monumental works have this presence, some don’t.
I ruminated en route that feathers are of course – like all found objects from the natural world – not something that one can upscale. Next week I am hoping to get back into the studio for two whole days. By then the work will be back with me and I have an itch to paint around it …the deep blues and reds just say oils to me and I haven’t painted in oils for about ten years…so in the spirit of ‘go and play and bring back what you’ve done’ I will see what two days will bring.
Even thinking about painting has started me doodling and sketching in my Christmas shopping list book.
Maybe they will all end up with concrete and feathers this year.
