Quarry

About

1. noun: An animal pursued by a hunter, hound, predatory mammal, or bird of prey; a thing or person that is chased or sought 2. noun: A place, typically a large, deep pit, from which stone or other materials are or have been extracted

verb: To cut into the ground to excavate marble, slate, granite, sand, salt, rock, chalk, clay and minerals

In Quarry, Sarah Gillett’s installation for Brocket London’s Summer Scoops programme, the artist examines Paolo Uccello’s painting, The Hunt in the Forest (1470) as the basis for a new series of works that combines printmaking, needlepoint and collage.

Using her interest in landscape and geology, she has quarried material from the painting and its making, playing with form, storytelling and language. In Gillett’s works we see the things hiding in the darkness of the forest. One of the most striking elements of the original painting is the elegant arrangement of the sculpted trees that form the forest. For Gillett, this is a singular tree, repeated many times over and into infinity, to build an enclosed architectural space akin to fan-canopied cathedral ceilings or the Great Mosque of Cordoba (784), an immense chamber of columns and arches. Evolving from this concept, Gillett sites her ‘quarry’ among ruined stone arches, catacombs and pillars, taking us below ground.

Referencing Hieronymus Bosch, Alice in Wonderland and botanical drawings, Gillett’s creatures are from another time. The hunt at night turns dream-like, the moonlight transforming forms and roles.

For a second year, Brocket Gallery London presents its vibrant summer installation programme at their Kennington project space. Showcasing progressive and groundbreaking artists through the month of August, this year Summer Scoops hands over complete control to exceptional print maker, Sarah Gillett to curate the space in a way for the audience to more intimately engage with her work.