The diversity
of ideas and approach presented in the work of this year's graduates of
the Sculpture Programme signals and reflects the strong sense of individuality
inherent within each member of the group. However, there is also a communality
in how these young artists position the viewer in relation to their work.
Through scale and material presence, you are enticed to relate physically
to the work, and in doing so to explore the sense of your own physicality.
Lured into this relationship through the sumptuousness of the material that
occupies the space in front of you, whether that be fish skin, bones, bronze,
or projected light, you are drawn in and compelled to engage. Perhaps as
you find yourself contemplating the very act of entering that bed, festooned
with thousands of sharp, steel pins, its very means of construction causes
it to blur and become dream-like before you. Alternatively, positioned face
to face with a life size projection of a figure, spinning and dissolving
like a slowly erasing drawing, yet again you become complicit, as the magnetic
tape that gathers around the figure is drawn from the very space that you
yourself occupy. Or, in yet another space, this time once occupied by a
mermaid, where now all that remains is her tail, you are compelled to examine
the skin, psychologically entering that time and place and experiencing
the loss.
No matter what materials or processes are utilised, the work resides within
the expanded field of sculptural practice, both embracing and journeying
beyond the object. As each graduate embarks on their own journey, the staff
of the Sculpture area wishes them the very best for the future.
Paul Cosgrove, June 2000
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