Daphne Wright makes the most extraordinary delicate sculptures. Her work reminds me of both Beth Cavener Stitcher and Kate McDowell's pieces. These are not ceramic however, they are a combination of marble dust and resin. Some pieces include silk embroidery thread and paint. I am particularly interested in the death masks she created from the corpses of animals. The pieces are beautiful and eerie and exist in that space where beauty and tragedy co-exist.
I suppose what really draws me to a lot of work is that very thing: the juxtaposition of two seemingly opposite ideas grappling for superiority the same space. Is the subject matter more overpowering than the beauty of the execution and rendering? For some people it will always be so and then I think it will be impossible for them to see the beauty of the object, in this case the body of a dead animal.
Daphne Wright's work is simultaneously an homage and a criticism. It is poetic and damning and beautiful and horrifying all at the same time. I absolutely love that you can feel the weight and flaccidity of the hanging lamb, fox and piglet despite them being cast in marble dust.
Unfortunately there is no artist website to link to though she is represented by Frith Street Gallery in London.
