Artists

COLIN LANGRIDGE

ELLIE RAY

Date: 09-Aug-2008 – 07-Sep-2008

Location: Contemporary Art Tasmania

Early in 2007 Ellie Ray and Colin Langridge met in a local café and discussed the idea of an exhibition together on the theme ‘fold’. It seemed that both the physical specificity and topical ambiguity of this theme suited their artistic practices. Bringing sculpture and photography together was something they wanted to investigate in order to test probable assumptions and possible ‘unknowns’ that might link or separate the two disciplines. It seemed that they were already artistically brushing against the ‘fold’ and that an opportunity to focus on this aspect of their work in the context of a shared exhibition would prove both interesting and rewarding.

Both artists work with close attention to the historic precedents within their chosen mediums and yet attempt to stretch the boundaries by testing presumed limitations. Drawing inspiration from technical and philosophical advancements, within personal and cultural spheres, they enjoy the process of moving deeper into an unfolding revelation of possibilities for new artwork. The metaphor of artist as persistent researcher seems fitting.

After initial meetings, and confirmation from CAST, they went their separate ways to develop and orchestrate an approach to the subject of the ‘fold’. In isolation they both explored new territory and yet arrived at an exhibition that allowed for interplay of similarities and differences between the works. The connections are both formal and emotive but they are perhaps most evident in a sense of contemplative ambiguity pervading the work – a feeling that gazing at the fall of folded fabric is a memory that is deeply imprinted upon our collective minds.