Fathom, 1999
The proposal was simple; imagine the gallery wall was built of glass, and you could see through it to the sea beyond, that very special strip of blue. It is the relationship between the cyanotype inside the gallery in relation to the water edge that interests me. The gallery as frame. The cyanotype was in total 30 meters, made in lengths, of images constructed from various samples of unpicked lace.
The cyanotypes were placed around the perimeter of the galley, fixed directly to the gallery walls, following the architectural curves and features. It was first exhibited at Mission Gallery, Swansea, which was formerly a Seaman’s Chapel.
“Blue waves embrace the interior space, marking an eye line, creating a horizon within the gallery. On closer inspection a deep blue frieze transforms into a more complex assemblage of colour, texture, pattern and movement. Interior references exterior: the gallery looks out to sea. Sea meets sky…
Out of the blue come fragments of ribbons and unpicked lace. Patterns texture the frieze. The trimmings invoke the glamour of petticoats now discarded. Threads which sutured lace to négligée still evident, ruptured but not entirely removed. That usually concealed, is now revealed. Blue stockings? Precise origins remain unfathomable. No matter. Remnants evoke the intimate, the feminine, that normally unseen. Unknown.”
Liz Wells (gallery text).