Review of LUCID by Terence Erraught This body of work leads the viewer to consider how the medium and the artist are working hand in hand, a collaboration. Just as the artist has made decisions through her practical and conceptual approach, so too must she adhere to the laws of the medium, such as how wax responds when placed in water. As sculpture, this work is multi-faceted including the use of moulds and assistance, or collaboration with forgers.
Some of these works tie to the contemporary allure of manufactured products that are highly polished and designed through technological advancements and iterations creating smooth, almost plastic appearances (no sharp angles or mechanised aesthetics are present). There has been a distinct decision made not to generate the look of bronze sculptures in the traditional sense through the finishes that have been selected.
The fluid globs and textures present have been created through a very haptic process of investigation, desiring not to remove the human fingerprint. These qualities are very organic and more ‘humanising’, also bringing life and movement to the pieces. As evident in the appearance of the earlier works against the more recent, there is imagery such as rabbits present. By contrast, the later works are not devoid of anthropomorphic qualities, being neither fully animal, figurative or totally abstracted. Each quality is imbued in the works through the transferal of the artist's hand. From this there is evidence of a subconscious element at play, allowing the more figurative components to have nuances that are open to interpretation.
This body of work can be linked to a practice of relaxation, meditation, idea generation, and observation through doing, just as with drawing for example. These approaches and the effects of the materials are interacting with each other and producing very fluid, fleshy, sinewy looking forms. More ways that are highlighting the incorporation of the human hand in the making of the work, these are not industrial, but more connected to being a human thing, despite the cold, hard toughness of the material.
These works might be said to be a kind of alien hybrid assimilation of experiences into textures and forms, skin, meat, bones, metal, plastic, life, death, joy, trauma, artificial and organic. Perhaps the artist is trying to use these processes to grapple with living and to put this into a physical form. terenceerraught.com/