Anna Reading

I always think of making as a discussion between me and the non-human materials I am working alongside. Materials are very honest. Several years ago, I realised that these materials kept whispering to me about protection and shelter. Shells came up again and again, waterproof tarpaulins, Tarmac, cardboard. It made me realise that perhaps I was vulnerable. Maybe I want a shell.

I want to celebrate acts of endurance and survival within hostile environments. I started making shells for cormorants, foxes and weeds, wild beings which survive within the stark sprawl of London. Making sculpture allows me to be closer to the world’s materials and let them touch me. I hope the residual sculptures act as a hint to that encounter, like shells on the shore.

IG @annareading

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