SIZE MATTERS

Some years ago I belonged to an exhibiting textile group and we were asked to create work for an exhibition at Exeter Museum called 'Size Matters'. I wanted to do something really big, but boring practicalities, such as transportation, size of studio etc. had to be considered.  My solution was to do one picture on 9 canvases (51cms x 62cms).

'Light the Fire Within' - 160cm x 192cm

I started with a small paper and string collage - playing around with stripes and ancient pot shapes.  This was scaled up to become large and then divided  into 9 panels.  A variety of materials were used including paper, fabric, rope, paint and gold leaf.  Some of the outlines were deliberately not lined up perfectly with the next panel to give a disjointed look.  The work can be broken up as each panel works as an abstract in its own right.

The work was called 'Light the Fire Within', which is written repeatedly on one of the vessels.  It was a phrase that I kept hearing at the time ,as it was the theme of that year's Winter Olympics.