Platform Gallery 2009 exhibitions
Orchard - Edwina Bridgeman
A Brewery Arts Touring Exhibition
March 14 - 25 April
'feeling the beauty of these quiet places and the importance of maintaining those that are left.....'
Over the past twenty years hundreds of orchards have been grubbed up and many towns and villages and hamlets have lost these places, which were once the focal point of community life. People attach high value to existence of an orchard as a natural haven in their locality and ranked this as nearly as valuable as the profit from the sale of apples and the grazing of sheep. Apart from the fruit trees an orchard is home to a host plant varieties, birds, insects, lichens as well as memory, emotion and magic In this exhibition, Edwina Bridgeman is attempting, a re-creation of the experience of being in one of these contemplative spaces, but distilled through her own vision and experience, but she is also calling on the stories and experiences of others to make 25 additional pieces of mixed material work.
The Exhibition
The contemplative effects of nature have always fascinated Edwina Bridgeman; whether its having a window box in a small city flat, working an allotment or using a park or common. Those who have seen her work before will be amazed by the creation of radical new work, an installation of three full sized orchard trees placed on a carpet, a magical prop, a grazing sheep and a host of other hidden wildlife. This is a space that the viewer is invited to enter, to enjoy this place of contemplation. These three trees are made from workaday materials, often discarded and undervalued but transformed by Edwina as shrines containing objects she has found, collected and treasured such as her auntie's old curtains. The stories relate to apple trees, but also reflect the resurgence of sustainability and self-sufficiency and the growing interest in the curative qualities of home grown food, wine and cider. There is a new five foot core work the 'Tree of Life', made of an old hat-stand and covered with figures and animals with Adam and Eve at the base and over 20 smaller works re-create some of the myths and stories connected to orchards.
Education work
The battered old writing table under an apple bough will be the focus of the education work and visitors will be encouraged to sit and write (or draw) their memories, or compose poems and prose about their own memories of apple picking, cider drinking etc. These memories will be seen by the artist and she will use them as a resource to make replacement work as the exhibition moves around Britain on a national tour.
The Ernest Cooke Trust have helped fund the production of an education and writing pack which accompanies the exhibition.
Edwina Bridgeman Statement
I use found materials to make narrative work. I draw inspiration form all around to tell our stories. I am interested in the poetry of the everyday. The materials that I use reflect this, often overlooked and discarded themselves I am able to bring their stories to my own, inviting the audience to look again at the familiar and ordinary presented in an extraordinary way. Found timbers are the main element of the work. The figures have painted faces with a fresco like quality, they represent all of us often with a sense of optimism and joy. The work is sometimes humorous, it is direct and accessible but not without depth, the use of materials suggests that anything maybe possible. The work has been described as life enhancing, It has a spiritual aspect which celebrate our times and our humanity.
For more details contact the Platform Gallery on 01200 443071.
