Poppy Erwood- BA (Hons) Fine Art
Via the motion of cutting and sticking, Poppy Erwood creates a world of hybrid beings which are brought to life through printmaking, ceramics, mask making and photography. By combining motifs of female figures and animalistic imagery as symbols of womanhood, her collages form unexpected juxtapositions and play on themes of gender.
Erwood’s background in theatre and dance influences her performative approach, using source material taken from queer cabaret dancers of Berlin’s Weimar Republic, whose metamorphic personas act as a symbol of defiance and celebration, Erwood re-imagines and assembles images that explore hybridity and embrace the fluidity of identity.
Play is an important method of her practice. Alongside this, the surrealists’ favourite game of Exquisite Corpse has been a tool for hybrid creation, evolving into ceramic puzzles and playful assemblages. With this approach, her work invites viewers to join in the game; to follow the mismatched limbs and enjoy the humour in the hybrids that emerge from these strange, stitched together worlds.
