Monday 8 February 2016

HERMIONE ALLSOPP     A Few Questions and Answers
www.hermioneallsopp.com

Hermione Allsopp makes sculptural work by collecting objects and furniture and re-creating them into new forms or compositions. These are familiar, known, domestic items that have been discarded in charity or junk shops – not, inert materials, but ones that carry collective attachments, memories and meanings. As sculpture, these re-done, or un-done-up objects begin to exist as something else and raise questions about the value and material nature of every day objects. Through the choice of objects, and the techniques employed, she explores the boundary between repulsion and attraction, ideas of taste and notions of desire. While also reflecting on wider topics related to consumerism, psychological and physical interiors.  

Can you describe your practice in a few words?
Majestic Head Cave  2014
I make sculpture and collage using charity shop objects, often combined with materials from the construction/decoration of interior spaces.
What is your earliest memory of art?
My grandmother was an artist, and the mother of a childhood friend was also an artist. I was particularly interested in their studios. My friends mother painted vast canvases in her house. I loved the smell of paint and the scale. But I always wondered how the paintings left the room. It was a bit of magic. She also took me and my friend to the Picasso exhibition, at the Hayward in 1981, I was 9, I was blown away by it.
Have you shown your work in a non-white cube space before?
Yes quite a bit. For example I was recently in Bread and Jam II, a project that sees a series of exhibitions taking place in a pre-renovated terrace house in London. I also showed at Deptford Stories that was based in an old factory that was about to be demolished.
What does this sort of space bring to your work?
I enjoy showing in this sort of space. Work is always related to its enviroment and/or how it is displayed. I often make work, in relation to specific environments, or try and use materials that either relate to the space or contradict it.
When a space is run down, pre-demolition or pre-renovation it links directly to the charity shop objects I use. The charity shop objects are in a similar position:transient.
What is the future for art outside the gallery context?
Interesting and exciting things happen outside the gallery context. They tend to be more artist lead and less commercially driven exhibitions. So good I hope.
What place do aspects of traditional craft play in your work?
Using readymade objects means I am engaging with already existing craft techniques. I have done some upholstery as part of my process for some work in the past. I use furniture, ceramic and glass objects, but I use these as elements to rework or recreate with.
What projects do you have coming up in the future?
I'm in Complicity, Artifice and Illusion at Collyer Bristow it opens on 2nd March .

Stool Sample 



Biography
Hermione Allsopp studied MA Fine Art at UCA Canterbury 2010-2012.She had her first solo exhibition Accumulated Comforts in 2014 as a result of winning Void Open and more recently Risen Up From a Dream Land in 2015, Bank House St Leonards on Sea.
Recent group exhibitions include: 2015 House of Life(A Collage), Kiss Chase' St Leonards on Sea; Bread and Jam II, London;Disturbance, London, 2014: Deptford Stories, London. Recent Awards: 2013 Winner Void Open Exhibition 2013 and shortlisted for the Mark Tanner Sculpture Award. 2014: Long/Short listed for the Solo Award, Anthology Open and Beers Contemporary Open.
She is an associate artist with Paper Gallery, Manchester.



twitter @HermioneAllsopp


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