‘Reveal and Conceal’ East Quay, Watchet, Somerset, 10.09.2022 - 02.01.2023
The exhibition displayed new works alongside a surprising reconvening of characters created by Laura over the past two decades. Together they reflected both the irresistible evolution and the unexpected, re-examination of things that have characterised so much of the last two and a half years.
The exhibition included a group of new human-sized comical, bawdy cats – each apparently chasing its own tail. These playful sculptures are accompanied by a number of works on paper, also of cats – this time paddling or drifting in the water to which they are famously adverse. The uncomfortable wetness isn't their usual habitat, but each of the cats continues to swim – sometimes content, more often seemingly irritated at being a cat required to swim.
Alongside the new cats in an odd context, Laura Ford presented a reconfigured installation of more than 30 sculptures, some meeting for the first time and some reunited. They included a pink knitted poodle, a frog facing the wall, a cat in a tweed cape and bonnet, and a child dressed as a bird in wellingtons – all of them kettled by a barrier of espaliered girls. Their collective emotion is hard to discern – perhaps fearful, perhaps hopeful, perhaps just uncertain of what their next step should be.
https://www.eastquaywatchet.co.uk/articles/reveal-and-conceal
Image credits: Jesse Roth
