Strands

Natural fibre sculpture and installation by Lesa Hepburn

12 March - 17 April 2006
Redland Art Gallery, Cleveland, Gallery 1

Lesa pushes the envelope of natural fibre paper producing two and three dimensional artworks that rely primarily on the inherent colours and textures of the fibre highlighted by the brilliant use of dyed fibres.

The works in this exhibition are primarily made from hand prepared natural fibre paper pulps. Hand papermaking is a technique that in many ways is symbolic of the interaction of water and shore. As the papermaker’s mould and deckle is lifted from the pulp and the water drains away a new sheet of paper is formed. So with the varied techniques that Lesa employs, water and fibres merge and separate just as the tide rises and falls and the strand is covered and revealed. Lesa also prepares and uses other natural materials with features reminiscent of the bleaching and polishing effects of sea, salt and sand.

The visual patterns of canal developments and estates are used in Lesa’s sculptural and installation works. Shorelines change with the effects of wind, sea and climate and now more frequently with the direct impact of human works, creating a shoreline that previously did not exist. The formal man-made shapes of the canal estate are contrasted with patterns representative of natural features including reed beds, streams, currents and beaches.

Lesa has also created sculptures exploring the form and fragile balance of coral atolls. Atolls are the product of millennia of contrasting natural forces; wind, rain and sea wearing down sea mounts and coral building up reefs. The coral atolls that exist are examples of the balance between climatic forces. These works demonstrate this fragile balance, each atoll quivering on its rocky base, the pulp painting image of the atoll floating on the surface.

Image: Lesa Hepburn, Grevillea Bowls, prepared grevillea leaves and banana pulp. Courtesy of the artist.