Terrain-A solo exhibition by Caitlin Heffernan

About

Terrain is a new site-specific installation produced following a 2008 artists residency in Nigeria. Cut short due to factional violence, the residency yielded fleeting glimpses of a troubled but beautiful land and the installation has been developed from a simple discarded piece of basket found on the floor of a market near Jos, Nigeria. Using the pattern of the woven basket as a template Heffernan has developed a series of beautiful large-scale drawings with 3-dimesional elements that echo the bright and highly patterned fabrics found in Nigeria. Terrain, which has been executed in bright reds, contains textural qualities that reference the country's red earth and rocky terrain. Heffernan travelled to Nigeria in November 2008 to take part in an international artist's workshop. However whilst making her way to Yankari National Park in the central belt of the country she was diverted because of factional violence in Jos. After less than a week she had to return to the UK but she used the experience to make an artwork that is resonant, beautiful but also poignant.