Gail Baxter - The identity specific lace 'stories' in Relative considers the complex narrative of interpersonal relationships within a family group. Detailed examination of one person's records can reveal otherwise hidden details of another person's existence or way of life and the installation offers altered perceptions of the overlapping existences of family members.
The detail (right) shows the way in which the 'stories' interact revealing unexpected hidden details and relationships.
Carol Quarini showcased her conceptual work with an installation titled 'Home Sweet Home'. Based on Freud's theory of the uncanny it looks at the familiar becoming strange through domestic textiles. Has the net curtain exploded into the room and caused havoc or is it innocently trying to find out what has happened?
Carol's work also included a modern twist on the classic lace doily but is this one throwing off it's oppressors?
Ros Perton works with wheel-thrown and altered clay forms to question accepted associations of value and beauty.
Shown as stacks, contrasting the rough of unglazed coarse clay with the smooth of porcelain. For me it is her chunky, rough textured pieces that really stand out. These black vessels with their ruptured sides are just so wonderfully tactile and yet carry deeper questions of how and why the ruptures occurred.
Tracy Nichols works with hand cut opaque glass, creating what I consider to be 'glass lace'.
Her current work is based on microscopic images of eroding bone fragments usually associated with pain and decay rather than beauty.
Displayed layer on layer the complex structures give great depth to this delicate 'fabric', drawing the viewer deeper inside.
Although I like to look through the layers of Tracy's work this piece challenged the usual concepts of delicacy and weight by using layers of glass lace to support a heavy, rusting, metal box.
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