‘Fragments of Venus’ is a collection of small, close-up pencil studies of Antonio Canova’s ‘Venus’, which is housed in the sculpture galleries of Leeds Art Gallery. The work exists as a series of drawings, a geometric paper sculpture, and a printed concertina book. In this series, the spatial dimensions of sculpture are explored through the articulation of the figure as a series of two dimensional images.
My interest in Venus stems from the history of the appropriation of Venus in art, and its links with kitsch and consumerism. I explored these ideas by presenting my work at the Techne conference, Kinesis and Stasis, which was held at The Barbican in November 2015. The resulting essay was also featured in the online journal, Logios (Vol 1), and can be read here.