I visited Firstsite during a break in the lockdowns back in October this year. I had seen that Phyllida Barlow was exhibiting here and I really like her sculptural work. I liked that the work was being shown in the foyer where there is lots of natural light allowing for shadows to be cast. I really like shadows. I think that the arrangement of the objects shown below could have been better, I think they have been placed up against the wall as a bit of an afterthought. However, when the shadows are cast from these objects they look like an extension of the ‘nerve’ work on the blue wall.
Phyllida Barlow Sculpture at Firstsite
Image taken by Elgin Thwaites 25/10/20
A quote from the Firstsite website about Barlow’s work, “For more than 50 years, Phyllida has taken inspiration from her surroundings to create imposing installations that can be at once menacing and playful. She creates anti-monumental sculptures from inexpensive, low-grade materials such as cardboard, fabric, plywood, polystyrene, scrim and cement; from the industrial to the domestic, and mixes them together. She takes the ordinary and transforms it into the extraordinary, composing what she describes as ‘a kind of still life’”.
The main reason I like Barlow’s work is because it is accessible to all. The materials used are inexpensive, rather than being made of bronze or something that sculptures are classically made from. They reflect the same materials I use in my work, that is that they are readily available, free or inexpensive.
Foe example, my recent work Suspense in yellow was created with polystyrene which is similar in the way that the material used was free and easily obtainable.
Elgin Thwaites ‘Suspense in Yellow’ (2020)
Acrylic, household materials, enamel, oil paint. Dimensions 1200x700mm. These images are of the work in its finished state. The painting is designed to be viewed hanging at an angle away from the wall as shown above to allow the light to flow through the other side.
Phyllida Barlow Sculpture at Firstsite
Image by Elgin Thwaites 25/10/2020
Here is a close up of the same work which shows that the sculpture’s skeleton is made from chicken wire, expanding foam, wood and polystrene. Which are all inexpensive, obtainable and ‘everyday’ materials.
