S u B la c k w e ll
F o l k Ta l e s , F o r e s t s & t h e S e a
4 J o h n I s l i p S t r e e t , L o n d o n S W1 P 4 PX tu e - fri 1 0 a m -5 . 3 0 p m sa t 1 1 a m -2 p m t: +4 4 (0 ) 2 0 7 8 3 4 1 4 3 4 e : g a l l e r y @l on g -a n d -r y l e . c om www. l on g a n d r y l e . c om
Th e Ob server Book of Birds
2018
Book cut sculpture in arched box 305 w x 355 h x 185 mm d
This book is from my collection of Observer books printed between 1940s - 1950s, published by Frederick Warne & Co. Each page of the book identifies the bird’s species, with a description and an illustration of each bird. I carefully cut out each of the illustrations, leaving only an outline of where the birds were positioned on the page.
Ro ses an d Carnations
2018
Book cut sculpture in glass case 480 w x 400 h x 350 mm d
The Chaste butterfly The bumbling bumble bee Do they not love the chalice of the rose? Heinrich Heine
Ro ses an d Carnations
2018
Th e Fritillaries
2018
Book cut sculpture in wooden case 320 w x 300 h x 200 mm d
‘Even the butterfly rests on the rose’ Caroline Howard Gilman
On ce Up o n a Time
2018
Reconstructed book in glass dome 250 w x 300 h x 200 mm d Silver and other metals quickly lose their gloss, but gold retains its brilliance indefinitely. This is why gold was held in such incredibly high esteem. Nature’s first green is Gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Then leaf descends to leaf, So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day Nothing gold can stay. Robert Frost
Wh o Kille d Cock Robin
2018
Reconstructed book, paper and thread in glass dome 250 w x 330 h x 200 mm d
Who killed Cock Robin? I, said the sparrow, with my bow and arrow I killed Cock Robin. Who saw him die? I, said the fly, with my little eye, I saw him die. Who'll dig his grave? I, said the owl, with my little trowel, I'll dig his grave.
Who'll be the parson? I, said the rook, with my little book, I'll be the parson. Who'll be chief mourner? I, said the dove, I'll mourn for my love, I'll be chief mourner. Who'll toll the bell? I, said the bull, because I can pull,
Th e Six Swans
2018
Reconstructed book, linen thread in wooden case, with lights 390 w x 535 h x 290 mm d
A fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm A sister is given a complicated task of sewing shirts from stitchwort (a forest flower) to save her six brothers. She does not complete one sleeve of one shirt, so her youngest brother has to go through life with a trailing swan’s wing instead of an arm.
Th e Six Swans
2018
Th e Elfin Grove
2018
Book cut sculpture in wooden box, with lights 350 w x 270 h x 270 mm d
"Hush! hush! you cannot see or know her: you must leave us before she comes back, which will be now very soon, for mortal step cannot come where she is. But you will know that she is here’’
Th e Elfin Grove
2018
Th e Blu e Bird
2018
Book cut sculpture in arched box, with lights 380 w x 463 h x 271 mm d "Bird, with wings of heaven's blue, Haste to where I wait for you".
Th e Bro n tĂŤ Parsonage
2017
Book cut sculpture in wooden box, with lights 310 w x 230 h x 240 mm d
From a series of sculptures depicting the literary homes of 19th Century women writers, created from the novels they wrote there.
Th e Bro n tĂŤ Parsonage
2017
Th e Little Match Girl
2017
Book cut sculpture in wooden box, with lights 240 w x 280 h x 210 mm d
I know you will disappear when the match is burned out. Hans Christian Andersen
Ho u ses
2018
Paper sculpture, miniature books in glass dome, with lights 400 h x 250mm d
Always container, sometimes contained, the house serves as the portal to metaphors of the imagination. Gaston Bachelard
Ato p
2018
Paper sculpture, miniature books in glass dome, with lights 280 w x 110 mm d
People need houses in order to dream, in order to imagine. Gaston Bachelard
Castle in t he Sky
2018
Paper sculpture, miniature book in glass dome, with lights 180 d x 335 mm h
When the peaks of our sky come together My house will have a roof. Gaston Bachelard
A Ho u se (in a glas s dome)
2018
Paper sculpture, miniature books in glass dome, with lights 200 d x 310mm h
The house shelters day dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace. Gaston Bachelard
Th e Bean stalk
2018
Book cut sculpture in arched box, with lights 380 w x 463 h x 271 mm d
Cu tters and Smugglers
2018
Book cut sculpture in wooden box, with lights 360 w x 290 h x 290 mm d
If you wake at midnight, and hear a horse's feet, Don't go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street, Them that ask no questions isn't told a lie. Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by. Rudyard Kipling
To th e Lighthouse
2018
Book cut sculpture in glass case, with lights 325 w x 230 h x 240 mm d
The sigh of all the seas breaking in measure round the isles soothed them; the night wrapped them; nothing broke their sleep, until, the birds beginning and the dawn weaving their thin voices in to its whiteness. Virginia Woolf
SU BLACKWELL Born in Sheffield 1975, lives and works in Hastings, UK Qualifications & Training: 2001-03 1997-00
MA Textiles, Royal College of Art, London BA (Hons) Art & Design, Bradford College of Art and Design
Solo Exhibitions: 2018 2015 2012 2012 2011 2010 2010
‘Forests, Folk Tales and the Sea’, Long and Ryle Gallery, London ‘Dwelling’, Pola Museum Annex, Tokyo ‘Tales from The Enchanted Forest’, Long and Ryle Gallery, London ‘Pretty Maid Ibronka’, Faculty of Fine Arts, Montenegro Bishop Faculty Fellow 2011, ‘Selected Works’, The Center for Book Arts, New York ‘Happily Ever After’, Long and Ryle, London ‘Remnants’, The Bronte Parsonage Museum, Haworth, UK
Selected Group Exhibitions: 2018 2017 2014 2013 2013
The Second Skin. Nature - Clothing, Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg-Hau, Germany Book Worlds, Museum Sinclair-Haus, Frankfurt, Germany ShowStudio, London Sotheby’s Presents, Chatsworth House, Derbyshire Victoriana – The Art of Revival, Guildhall Art Gallery, London
Work in Public Collections:
National Art Gallery Cardiff Palgarve Macmillan Headquarters, London Sir Kenneth Green Library, Manchester Metropolitan University The Bronte Parsonage Museum, Haworth, West Yorkshire Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield Projects and Commissions: 2019 2018 2018 2017 2016-18
Peckover House, Art Installation at the National Trust Spinocchia Freund London Hide, London Christmas at Chatsworth, Chatsworth House, Derbyshire Plumlines, Art Installation at the National Trust, Croome Court, Worcester
I n s i d e f ro n t c o v e r & r i g h t : R o s e s a n d C a r n a t i o n s 2018 (detail)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the gallery.