‘Verdant Sculpture’ is a large aluminium rectangular partition created by sandwiching two identical sheets of laser cut aluminium around a steel frame using two red tie downs. Patterns in general do not simulate any sense of depth; they’re flat. Even if there is an actual object or place depicted these are almost always graphically abstracted into symbolic or iconographic representations. When I designed the pattern for this piece I was experimenting with creating a pattern that could indicate a sense of depth. As a starting point for the structure of the pattern I was looking at the compositional structures in Claudian landscape painting; the use of foreground, mid-distance and distance that he employed to create a sense of distance and movement in his paintings. This structure dictated the scale of the differing leave patterns and their positioning. The piece forms a block, a kind of temporary obstacle, held together momentarily with impromptu tie downs. It is this question of instability I was interested in; the instability or inability of the pattern to form a proper image, the large solid metal construction occupying space, yet the impermanent nature of the tie downs indicating it’s only occupying a holding position before it moves on.

This show was curated by Jean Bernard Koeman for W139

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