Louise Black

Through physiology, multidisciplinary artist Louise Black (b.1992) investigates the female figure as a main catalyst point. In touch with issues of female identity, the body and the maternal as subject, Black investigates alternative methods of seeing and being seen. Through a selected use of mediums aiming to interrogate the link between gender, craft, and domesticity. A blurring of the distinction between interior and exterior, figurative representation and abstraction materialises. A practice inspired by human anatomy and the beautiful and the grotesque, influences and directs sculptural works. Appearing both familiar and unsettling simultaneously, at one with the human condition. Works in a visual narrative hover between birth and mortality, and the precarious thresholds in-between .

In a space which is both static and on the border of transition, an experimental performance is a vital component to the body of work. Materials and processes embedded within the installation are charged with both tenderness and violence, aiding a need to express internal emotions. With nods to the formalities of a surgical theatre, a dressing table, and a sewing loom a practical workspace is served for labour, mending, looking, and reflecting. Guided by diagrams, quilted textile works are produced through the repetitive rhythm of a darning needle. As ragged edges of Black’s nails catch the delicate surfaces of the textiles, moments of caring and self-care are cautiously considered.