Folding Space

About

The exhibition, ‘Folding Space', brings together two artists who share an interest in the experimentation with material and the construction of sculpture and spatial structures. Brigitte Parusel and Sheila Vollmer, artists with studios at Art in Perpetuity Trust (APT) in Deptford, London, have devised ‘Folding Space' as a response to the architectural intricate spaces and light of the Barbican Arts Trust Atrium Gallery. Both artists have created new work inspired by and adapted to the Atrium Gallery: Brigitte Parusel exploring pattern, light and form in an intricate folded paper wall installation; Sheila Vollmer playing with wood skirting boards cut and joined with brass fixings creating space and movement folding and flipping from the floor up the walls. Existing related works in paper, wood and metal from their individual practices will also be included creating a dialogue with the space and to each other's work. Brigitte Parusel works across a variety of mediums, from sculpture, installation to creative coding. Characteristic of her abstract structures is an emphasis on experimentation and the use of basic elements and materials. The works shown are part of a wider series in which she explores a geometric pattern of interconnected circles. This pattern was previously the basis for large-scale metal installations and delicate bamboo structures. The paper folded pieces take the exploration of the pattern further and examine its potential as solid forms. She sees these works as Test Pieces, which investigate the behavior of simple elements and their potential to form complex structures. Some works are folded randomly and take on natural or crystalline forms while others are based on research into protein folding and are developed from existing structural models. Her work has been exhibited in London in group shows including Barbican Centre, The Nunnery, Whitechapel Gallery, ICA, APT Gallery, Chelsea Physics Garden, Deptford X and the Commonwealth Institute, as well as a solo exhibition at The Walkway in Maidstone. Since 1996 she is a member of the Art in Perpetuity Trust (APT) in London where she has a studio. In 2011 she completed an MA in Fine Art at Wimbledon College. Sheila Vollmer's new skirting board works fall within a body of her work exploring and subtly changing architectural moldings. The act of quietly daydreaming in a space imagining it coming alive with its own poetry is an on-going preoccupation that sparks some of her ideas. Sheila is interested in exploring the physical, visual and emotional responses to a material, form, space and color within her work - enticing the eye, emotions and relating to the body. The form of the work, the nature of the material and the methods of making are all interdependent: how a work achieves a necessity of form through the working process by replicating and improvising on basic units of form with the addition of colour, surface, gravity (how the work touches the surface it rests on) and how the work reacts to the space it inhabits. The work is about the materials and achieving wholeness, rhythm, life and meaning within the forms and space through a systematic working process. She has exhibited widely in Britain and featured in group exhibits in Taiwan, Eire, Canada, Germany, Holland and USA. Recent and noteworthy exhibitions include: International Exhibition of Wood Sculpture', Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum Taiwan 2012; Royal Academy ‘Summer Exhibition 2012', RA, London ‘2012; ‘London Bridge City Sculpture' (2 sculptures on riverside walkway by Hay's Galleria London) 2011-12; ‘Thinking Big: 21st Cent. British Sculpture, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy, 2003. Awards include the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Public & private collections include The Prudential plc London and Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Staffs'. Canadian born, Sheila completed a post graduate Sculpture, St Martin's School of Art in 1987 after a BA Honors Art, University of Guelph, Canada. websites www.brigitteparusel.com www.sheilavollmer.com