Reframe by Ivana Taylor brings together, for the first time, a selection of sculpture, lighting and furniture by the artist - an exhibition which explores a fascination for textile wrapping and invites the viewer to explore the world through new frames and layers.
Taylor responds with an incredibly unique visual expression, but one that is also deeply grounded in historic cultural references. For example, the wrapping used by Ancient Egyptians, mothers swaddling babies, the exquisitely wrapped presents of Japanese furoshiki or the wrapping in traditional dress which can be seen in Taylor’s wall sculpture Gold and Coal Kokoshnik referencing a Russian headdress.
Further examples similarly stem from such gestures, costumes or props that are charged with personal and universal meaning. Moored to the wall or mounted on plinths, Taylor describes how her sculpture engages the audience with their fluid or architectural forms and colours, drawing the viewer in to ‘redress’ or reframe their perception of themselves and the world around them.
Inspired by the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who wrapped Little Bay in Sydney in 1969, Taylor similarly engages in dynamically wrapping complex objects. Guy Keulemans explains the underlying tensions within this act of wrapping, describing how works like the light work, Wrapped Gesture “generates form, it alters surface, it conceals, it protects, it provides closure, gives strength, and even changes how we perceive what’s under wraps. It creates mystery.”
While Taylor’s work carries a sense of permanence and stability that is absent in ephemeral works, just as her works can be wrapped, they can also be unwrapped and re-wrapped, for example, Bound bench. This communicates her interest in sustainability as she prolongs the life of these works which can be subject to maintenance or repair, but also suggests qualities of potential in her work. As Keulemans points out, Taylor’s work “contains a strong element of hope”. Acting with sensitivity to environmental imperatives, “Taylor fulfils this need with a delicate act of care, expressed by wrapping and guided by design”.
Through scale and repetition, Taylor focuses on a playful observation of how interlacing, weaving, knotting and/or stitching interact with a structure. Within each sculpture, light or furniture work exists both a tension and balance between the stiff timber or steel framework, and the softness and colour of the textile wrapping over these materials. Taylor states her aspiration to create “a visual and physical rhythm and a gentle sensual tactility that feeds the eyes as much as the sense-making sense of touch”, as seen in Marci & I’, ‘Interloop and Astaire.
Reframe is an exhibition that exemplifies the act of wrapping, that is, the act of care, giving and protection through hand made art objects.
References:
Guy Keulemans, Ivana Taylor, Wrapped with care, Garland Magazine, 18 November, 2021. Guy Keulemans is designer, artist and researcher producing critical objects informed by history, sustainability and experimentation. He has exhibited around the world and has multiple works in the permanent collection of the National Galley of Victoria. Guy is represented in Australia by Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert.
