Wilding, Alison
In this small wall-based work, a chunk of slate and a flattened sheet of copper are butted up against each other, as if the copper is a drooping tongue. This duality is typical of Alison Wilding's work, which most often consists of two distinct shapes, and two contrasting materials, set in balance or in dynamic tension with each other.
It seems inevitable, looking at Wilding's work, to search for natural comparisons and look for meaning in metaphor. Essential as this urge is, it is equally important to recognise its limits, and to realise that the delicate poise, the hard-won completeness of each sculpture, goes beyond the achievement of a simple comparison with something from the real world. Wilding's work is unique among that of her generation in its range of allusions, its slippery avoidance of direct interpretation, and the unashamed beauty of its highly worked surfaces.
Greg Hilty, 'Recent British Sculpture from the Arts Council Collection', Exhibition Catalogue, 1993
- Artwork Details: 58 x 14 x 16cm
- Edition:
- Material description: slate and copper
- Credit line: © the artist
- Theme: Abstract
- Medium:
- Accession number: AC 5229