These sculptures were originally made as a series exhibited in GalleryFRANK entitled ‘Saltarello’ which is the name of an Italian folk dance. Although abstract, they suggest the uninhibited dynamism of women’s dance as a celebration of convivial feminine joy. These are fractured, multiple forms which seek to express the sensations of the body rather than represent traditional, single, exterior figural form. These are about experience and they are chthonic, that is to say, belonging to the underworld or interior realms rather than an outward, worldly sphere.
The objects have been made using an intuitive process; evolving rather than pre-planned. By ‘revealing’ forms suggested by the material – in this case, cast plaster, the artist draws upon on an existing repertoire of references such as bones, beasts, fluids, flowers and drapery.
Initially these sculptures were made by the artist thrusting her hands into buckets of wet clay then pouring plaster into the resulting voids. The random shapes are then joined together, carved and scraped to enhance the innate qualities of the material to produce each completed piece. Rather than ‘worry’ or deaden the surface, Kara seeks to draw out an impression of inner and latent energy.
The Whittaker
This collection was also exhibited at The Whittaker, Haslingden.
