Procession

'Procession' was exhibited at 'Degree Show One: Art', Central Saint Martins from 21st to 26th May 2019 in the Crossing, Granary Square, King's Cross. It comprises eighteen sculptures constructed from pigmented Jesmonite and plaster on viscose, silk, cotton and polyester with steel armatures, ranging from 40cm to 240cm in height. This installation is a coming-together of self-supporting, body-scale masses which appear to be cloaked by fabric that overspills and erupts from the top of each work. It is a united sequence of figure-like sculptures that act as a whole to effect synaesthetic and phenomenological impact, whilst channelling the referential power of abstract sculpture to allude to a multiplicity of interpretations. This openness is a key component of my practice as it often leads to surprise, unplanned outcomes which I could not otherwise foresee. While considering how each individual sculpture operates anthropomorphically and communicates its unique movement, form and character in relation to the other works, I staged conversational, clustered groupings. This led me to reconsider what constitutes a procession: can it exist as a dance, a festival, a protest, a parade, a ceremony, a celebration or a series of discussions? In turn, by thinking about how a procession can operate in a more open, abstract way, this installation enabled the viewer to become part of its internal dialogue and experience each sculpture from all angles. The sculptures in this installation are shaped by their personal relationship with gravity: they grow upwards from the ground on which they are sited, finding balance through self-weighting strategies as each mass is coaxed and teased into its final, solidified state. Additionally, the ongoing narrative of negotiating polarities between fluid and frozen throughout my practice has culminated here in an unpredictable duality between liquidity and solidity which is defined by the way it photographically captures the materials' physicality at the moment they finally set, congeal or harden.