Sadie Askwith BA (Hons) Fine Art and Art History
In my work I use the concept of emptiness and physical empty space to represent overwhelming feeling. I use metal, ceramic and large-scale drawing to encapsulate and highlight the space within the abstract works I create, shapes and objects I refer to as vessels. I use the vessel motif over and over again in my work and I am interested in its use as a metaphor – a visual representation of the shape of the human mind or subconscious and its infinite contents. The vessel often takes the shape of vase-like forms, and, depending on the viewer’s perception of the empty space inside, can be seen as either empty or full. In representing the contents of the mind with emptiness, I can avoid being confessional in expressing my experiences, and can freely explore my own personal perceptions of intimate subjects. I can also explore universality, and ask questions such as: in using ‘nothing’ as my material, can I represent ‘everything’?
