Laura Aldridge
31 March – 14 May 2011
Laura Aldridge,
installation view, all works 2011
Courtesy of the artist
Laura Aldridge,
Hand extended (V), 2011,
screenprint on perspex,
Courtesy of the artist
Laura Aldridge,
Untitled, 2011,
plaster, paint and fabric,
Courtesy of the artist
Laura Aldridge,
Hand extended (V), 2011,
screenprint on perspex,
Courtesy of the artist
For her first solo exhibition in a London gallery, Laura Aldridge will present a new installation made of tied knot sculptures and screen printed cut outs of cats being cradled and petted.
Laura Aldridge’s work employs a combination of materials and imagery that carries certain psychological overtones and evokes particular responses. A number of monochrome screen prints on shaped Perspex depicts pairs of disembodied arms holding different domestic cats. The fragmented imagery of the act of stroking and cradling emphasizes the act of touching, rather than the animal being touched. This focus on the sensation of touch and feeling is echoed in the plaster knots that surround each image and fill the gallery walls. Tubes of fabric have been filled with wet plaster and casually knotted together in bow like forms to take form. This process draws attention to the action of the hand and sensuality of making. Aldridge’s visual and sculptural language engages with
femininity with its use of homely and sometime folksy constructions and use of pastel colours. The work can be understood as following a tradition of a number of artists engaging with the decorative and seemingly sentimental work, particularly Ree Morton and Lily van der Stokker.
Aldridge lives and works in Glasgow. Previous solo exhibitions include ‘Cat’s are not important’, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow (2010); ‘The workshop survived because we love each other’, Glasgow Sculpture Studio, Glasgow (2007) and ‘Social Dynamism’, Calarts, Los Angeles (2005).
Supported by Studio Voltaire Benefactors and Glasgow Life
