"Matterart: Pauline Burbidge - Textiles, Charles Poulsen - Sculpture "
2002-04-08 until 2002-05-13
Shire Pottery Gallery and Studios
Alnwick, , UK United Kingdom

Shire Pottery Gallery and Studios presetns Matterart, a striking exhibition of contrasting materials and methods in which vibrant colour plays against monochrome, fabric against metal, contemporary quilt maker Pauline Burbidge and sculptor Charles Poulsen demonstrate that materials do 'matter' in their shared exploration of the tangible world and folding objects to make wall reliefs and freestanding sculpture.

Pauline Burbidge's large-scale quilted textile wall hangings use imagery that is inspired by the countryside around her. She incorporates freeform collage and stitching techniques within her work and in this exhibition will be using digital photography and computer-generated images in her preliminary visual studies.

Pauline Burbidge has for many years stood at the forefront of contemporary quilt making. Her work is featured in major museums and private collections around the world, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, The National Museums of Scotland and the prestigious James Collection at the International Quilt Study Centre, University of Nebraska, USA. A member of prominent committees, author of several publications including her latest book, Quilt Studio, Pauline Burbidge is a popular teacher and runs design workshops from her home in the Scottish Borders, where she lives with her partner Charles Poulsen.

For nearly two decades CHARLES POULSEN has worked with simple materials - concrete and principally lead sheet, wrapping and folding objects to make wall reliefs and freestanding sculpture. The lead wrapping, rather than concealing the object, acts as a skin, changing how we view it. The effect is extraordinary and transforming. Stones become weightless, common objects such as tools loose their rigidity, tree branches become skeletal - their history submerged in their wrapping.

Another strand to Charles Poulsen’s work is the production of large drawings using paper drenched in linseed oil then rubbed with charcoal until there is a dense black medium. Repeated words are scraped into the medium, revealing the white beneath to form rhythmic images. In this exhibition the sculpture and drawings have come together with text forming the basis of a lead wall relief called Hush.

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