DOT MATRIX – All Is Number 77/1

This collaborative piece made with  Paul Kessling  is 140cm x 98cm and made from resin and concrete, it’s based on the Pythagorean numbering systems  in which arrays of dots were used to calculate complex mathematical theorems.

As self confessed ‘colour geeks’  both our respective art practise involves using colour, Paul’s a painter- here’s his website.  Working together we have produced a new body of work using interchangeable individually coloured pegs that allow the eye to  intuitively processes pattern and  colour harmonies;  a colour calculus.

There are so many potential combinations of colour in DOT MATRIX 35/1 PIMLICO that my nephew Alex Bryson says that “if you made one change every second, it would  take you 50000000000000000000000 times the current age of the universe to run through all the different variables” .

‘This Is What Happens’ – an exhibition of  new work  starts on 4th May at Modern Artists Gallery 

‘Deer Skull – Cut Out Head’ is a limited edition printed on the finest quality archival cotton rag paper, the ornate frame is hand painted with layers of gesso over a gilt finish. This print  can be purchased online through the contact page.

‘When Nina Edwards first approached me to talk about buttons, it was obvious that she has one of those minds that fizzes and pops with information, she was planning a book about buttons, not just information for the collector but also a book in which the button takes centre stage, be it a small and delicately embroidered button, a bone one of dubious heritage from the Nazi War camps or the  parting gift for parents leaving their children on the steps of the Foundlings Hospital – this was to be a book about the cultural and emotional importance buttons hold, not just about the development of the fastening. Nina just gets it – the whole button thing.

‘As an artist, I’ve been using buttons since my Goldsmiths days in the late ‘80s – we studied Richter and Beuys and were encouraged to examine everything afresh and pull out the stuff from inside ourselves. I discovered my language was ‘found objects’, my way of ‘mark making’ – a small button, with the marks of generations of wear seems to have so much power, functioning  on so many levels, containing much more information, emotion or life than I could ever create myself.

‘My earlier work contained up to 3000 buttons arranged and sewn onto a backboard, each piece taking 6 weeks of intensive work, and was out the door as soon as it was finished – it probably sounds silly but as I delivered the last piece in this series,  I found myself, near to tears, trying to explain to its new owner the history behind some of the buttons , this was from my cardy when I was a kid in Liverpool, that one from my aunt’s dress – it was awkward for both of us – I was trying to hand over the emotional heritage of my buttons to someone who wanted something nice for the wall of his London flat, and that’s when I got it, buttons mean different things to different people.’

http://theibtaurisblog.com/2012/03/15/on-buttons-the-work-of-kate-kessling/

I’m really interested in the reason we collect things – I’ve got a huge collection of buttons and have just touched on this in an interview with David Martin – an editor with The Oxford English Dictionary – you can read it on my website 

‘Deer Skull -Cut Out Head’ and ‘Take The Bull By The Horn’ Framed   size  120cm x 90cm now available through  Rockett St George – take a look at my prints and also  their stamp rugs, oh and the chandeliers and coloured glasses too!

Photography Christopher Baines

Just putting together some new work for Windsor Contemporary Art fair this weekend (11th – 13th November), I’ll be running some workshops with Jelly Gallery - a charity that promote the development of the arts for the benefit of the local community.