Comfort blanket.

^{31313 what a lovely date of recurring repetitious numbers, somehow so soothing, calming and lightweight.}

 ^{I was having a bit of a browse through the catalogue that was published for the exhibition 'Women Artists elles@centrepompidou' in 2009 this week. As well as taking a little trip down memory lane I was also looking for some reassurance. The section called 'Immaterials' offered me some comfort as I continued my, some would say, 'dogged' experimentations with,currently old blankets to make my...well what? Nothings exactly but in the making a continuing search for 'an economy of means...[by]...reductions,removals,divisions and disappearances' p.220}

day nurse
pencil on paper

Itch and jump!

^{'Delicacy and tactile subtlety both partake in and amplify the perversely feeble power of the tip, the fringe,the edge,the hem...the fingertips...suggest reach and the delicacy of that which is almost touched, touched and not touched at once.' p265 'The Book of Skin' Steven Connor.}

^{A turning back and a turning over this week as I hit the buffers again. A turning back to some previously visited terrain, a pause as I contemplate the edge....and jump!}

 

 

multiply detail

Beguiled by 'Jammers'

^{Kings Cross to Britannia Street...a cold,wet,grey,rainy, uninviting walk. The heavy glass door opened in polite welcome, this the Gasgosian Gallery currently exhibiting Robert Rauschenberg's Jammers. http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/robert-rauschenberg--february-16-2013}

^{A place of gesticulating suited attendants the silence punctuated by the regular rumblings of trains.}

^{But what a space and what a spectacle! To be honest I know very little about Rauchenbergs work but what was evident to me was that these were an honest response to a visit he had made to India just before the making of these exhibits. Swathes of beautiful coloured silks stitched together as banners, pulled threads and translucent layers, stripped tin cans hung with string, a huge 'bag' hanging with its sagging heft (very Hesse), bound and notched rattan poles,a stuffed pillowcase – like an oversized pocket.}

^{He was obviously beguiled and in turn beguiled me with the both the simplicity and the delightful touches of detail in this uplifting show.}

tender detail
constructed drawing

 

jars and labels

^{Cabinet upon cabinet, jar next to jar,detail within detail, labels and labels and labels;The Hunterian Museum housed at the Royal College of Surgeons is a paradise for the lover of minutiae. It is a vast collection of specimens, human, animal and plant; normal and abnormal and practically all looking very odd!http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums/hunterian}

^{It brought back memories of a treasured possession that I had loved as a child...a microscope. I can now recall hours spent squeezing little things between the glass slides and peering at them through the lens. It was a thing of fascination and enthralment. Then along with this magnification, this change from something known to something mysterious, are all the scientific names and phrases that add another layer, another world again.}

^{Look at some of these sea shell names for example: Paper Fig, Pear Whelk, Lace Murex, Lettered Olive, Scotch Bonnet, Atlantic Bubble, Baby's Ear, Kitten's Paw, Egg Cockle,Spiny Jewel Box, Turkey Wing, Sunray Venus, Fly Speckled Cerith, Calico Clam....http://seashells.org/seaident.html}

^{Quite delicious!}

menders
pencil on paper

 

Tea with Eva Hesse

^{'Eva Hesse 1965' an exhibition currently at Hauser and Wirth Savile Row, London is a rare showing of some of Hesse's experimental reliefs and drawings from 1965. http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/1648/eva-hesse-1965/view/}

^{Coming from the heady interior of The East India Company with its exotic array of tea caddies and extraordinarily named teas, the gallery, just a short walk away is in itself worth a visit with its vast quiet interior of cool greys and splash of Thames green.}

^{Hesse too loved to play with words and looking at her works I caught an echo of those bizarre tea names.}

^{Her drawings are intriguing and compelling. They ask to be looked at closely and arouse curiosity. The main group are ink on paper with some judicious use of colour. Colour instinctively and unconsciously placed it seemed, little touches of femininity and pauses for thought.}

 

Hong Kong brooms
Photo Michael Murton