Tate

I came across a room of Louise Bourgeois’ oeuvre which I was delighted to see in person. Her works include drawings and sculptures which had recurring themes of childhood, motherhood, gender and loss.

Bluecoat

Kathleen Ryan’s sculptures of rotting fruit made out of gemstones represent decay, wealth inequality and opulence at the extent of the environment. There are strong themes about the binaries between things, most notably the beauty and the decay of beauty, attraction and repulsion.

Ryan’s work definitely relates to the research on Andrea Hasler and Helen Chadwick’s work. There’s a link between gemstones, handbags and food relating to pleasure (and politically symbols of success), but also a cause of disgust where the handbags resemble flesh and the food is rotting.

How it relates to my work

Ryan uses gemstones to represent the decay, which is a poetic way of using material to inform the viewer of a process that happens naturally. The way I use mirrors is similar in that I use the physical attributes of mirrors to inform the viewer of the process of reflection, rather than as a static object.