All three of these London based artists have a strong understanding and natural affinity with their respective media. They all use paper in their work, but with widely differing approaches and outcomes. While the pieces are tonally soft and, as the titles suggests, in almost white hues, each evocative work possesses strength and an enduring elegance.
Lucy Bainbridge’s new series of screen prints explore the quiet temporal effect of light on the capital’s cityscape. Photographs are taken of London at different times during dawn and dusk, as the light changes most. By bringing these momentary glimpses into focus, there is a feeling that one can pause the instantaneous nature of city life. Lucy removes detail and definition from her photographs. The cityscapes reflected within architectural structures are changed to the point at which the content and context lose clarity, resulting in a combination of organic and formal shapes. A variety of filtering techniques are used to strip away familiar visual cues, combined with high glossy and matt finishes, the works reflect a quiet moment of the brief and changing images, leaving space for the viewer to interpret the illusory depiction of the original subject matter. Lucy’s framed prints are large, spacious and calm. A variety of screen print techniques are used, combined with chine collé, to create these subtle perceptions.
Francisca Prieto is a Chilean-born designer who works in a variety of media. The pieces in Almost White are from the ‘Between Folds’ series. Francisca takes great care sourcing the pages that she uses to fold. Each origami construct is repeated many times; while the overall effect is one of unity, the viewer is invited to look deep into each of the dynamic structures.
In Between Folds/ Illustrated London News 1852, Francisca has taken a volume of Herbert Ingram’s publication from January to July 1852. She is fascinated by the insight to the social history that Illustrated London News gives, through its hundreds of illustrations. The fragments of engraving and texts chosen, draw attention to certain details on a whole range of activities and events occurring in that year. From the regular racing results to the opening of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Francisca creates an insight into Victorian life. In Between Folds/Sheet Music: Composition I and II there is a wonderful relationship between the drawn rhythms dancing over each page of music and the repetitive structured forms that comprise the work. The diverse selection of sheet music dates from the early1900s; operas and ballets, piano and trumpets overlap and fuse subtly together.
Francisca’s individual style makes her work highly distinctive and internationally collectable; her works are included in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Tate Gallery and the British Library.
Rachel Shaw Ashton makes beautiful pieces by cutting figures and forms from paper. White on white, each separate piece of meticulously cut paper is grouped together to form a stunning three dimensional piece. Shadows between and behind each paper form create a dramatic tension. Despite the intensely laborious process of cutting each shape by hand, Rachel’s works have a fluid energy. Some works are calm; others are frenzied as the separate cuttings sweep up into one greater scenario. In some works, Rachel conveys a sense of realisation through the stirring of movement and in others a feeling of things being static and resigned.
These most recent works continue with Rachel’s curiosity about our hidden thoughts and feelings. Sometimes disguised or unidentified, sometimes put to one side to deal with another time. Not always controllable but ultimately our choice whether to reveal or keep out of sight and this in turn usually culminates in a very potent and often destructive force. Physically the work has become even more refined and detailed than it has been. Either in the sheer quantity and concentration of figures or in the detail of each individual body or form.