[14 Sept 2016]
Catch
(2016) by Claire Ashley; Spray paint on PVC-coated canvas tarpaulin, fan, and
nylon rope[1]
University Galleries – from Claire Ashley's show Cawt, Taut, Hot.... Not
Claire
Ashley's installation pieces envelop multiple rooms of the gallery through
layers of color and space. They push the physical boundary of the space and
seek to acknowledge what lies beyond it. Through walking the entirety of the
show, it became apparent that Ashley is very interested in engaging viewers
with the structures at play in the building. In the lobby a mural framing
Gabe's desk refuses to distinguish any work or fixture as replicable. We may
first conceive the arrangements as oversized metaphors for playfulness,
youthfulness, or mockery, but each work or grouping responds to a significant
characteristic of its situation. Thus, the entire selection at once comments on
the expectations of a viewer, questions common classification sought by
critics, and finally turns our eyes upward to the concerns of the gallery
itself.
In the
center of the main room lies one of the most complicated and concentrated
groupings of all. Its suspended nylon rope radiates bright yellow and amasses
some relatively smaller masses. Catch
is a floor to ceiling work that contains multiple inflatables as inhabitants;
at some points people even have to bend underneath a protruding edge to pass by
whilst in observation. You can hear and even feel the breath of the work as the
fan vibrates the stretched tarpaulin. At every step there is a new concavity or
convexity revealed about the structures. As Ashley took multiple preexisting
pieces and piled them together, at certain points it seems as though you could
reach, even climb into the amorphous center.
Catch's
aesthetic comes from several layers of paint and structures. The
conglomerate has a softer balance of gray scale and bright colors compared to
the excesses of color evident in pieces such as Bugs. In this sense there is some implied texture where lighter
gradations of color make the appearance of thinner material, whereas the actual
texture is very much like the original material. Overlapping forms and
constricted parts of these forms reinforce our perception of being caught,
held, or strung up. An imbalance and asymmetry altogether can be disorienting
but also generative in making associations for what each piece could represent.
The perceived mass of each item can also be misinterpreted along with its
actual volume; these suspended objects convey weightlessness, but Bugs is estimated to weigh ~150 pounds.[2]
Ultimately the entirety of Catch is
based upon a principle of looking inward, and then zooming out to acknowledge a larger context or some other layer. In terms of color, each individual piece appears
bright at first, until we realize that the tarps are a variety of gray scale underneath. For form,
the arrangement is a case of intriguing juxtapositions; that is, until we step
back and look at the conditions of the rigging and what it may imply about
process, title meaning, and mood. For shape, size, and volume, it is easy to
gloss over the observation that Claire Ashley employs conflicting strategies in
order to achieve an audience's sense of lightheartedness and simultaneous thoughtfulness.
The pieces'
sheer size and configuration certainly blurs the distance between a viewer and
an intruder. We are instructed, like any good museum-goer might be, to refrain from touching
the display. After all, these bloated canvases reveal stretch marks, patches,
and therefore a sense of delicacy. Nonetheless, there is an evident pattern of
interface with the work, as it actually encroaches on our territory before we
can even violate its own. In Catch,
the rope entangles and smartly conceals the sole support within the room. It
transforms and expands the place from support and divider to accumulator. Individually,
the works can all be distributed and function on their own terms. In this
installation, though, Ashley emphasizes objects en masse, not only in terms of
density, but also by concealing the lone figure in the architectural landscape of the
gallery's room. Just as we see in much post-modern sentiment today, Ashley
desires works to mirror the reality of our own beings by participating with or
alongside us. Sometimes we even get the chance to be within the art itself. Whatever
her commentary might have been intended for in Catch, she certainly aims to enrapture us through encapsulating her
art.
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| Image courtesy of University Galleries webpage for exhibitions. |
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