Paintworks 2008 – Studio

In November 2008, I put on a large show in the Paintworks Event Space, you can view films from the event here.

Below is an interview piece written in the lead up, plus some images of the studio to go with it.

Walking into Carol Peace’s studio feels like arriving at a party in mid-flow. There seems to be people everywhere – some huddled close together and whispering, others striking a pose at various points around the room..

Of course, the sculptor is the only one living and breathing. Carol scampers busily from one side of the room to the other, attacking her working day with all the fretful bustle of Lewis Carroll’s White Rabbit. The unflinching statues all watch her calmly..
Carol’s creations have a poise all of their own – elegant and caressing, they weave around each other like a room of bronze and resin lovers. Beside the door, two larger-than-life figures tower over visitors. The piece, simply entitled Precious, depicts a couple sitting side by side, his arm holding her affectionately around the waist..

“It’s all about that reassuring sense of feeling somebody else’s skin touching yours,” Carol explains.

“Everyone wants to have somebody special in their life that they can just be with – who they can just hold. I think that feeling’s pretty universal. That’s precious to everyone.”.

Carol pauses to look at the statue, before turning back to attack the job of tidying her studio. Moments later, she’s up a ladder, working on a wire framework in the shape of a flowing dress..

“I’ve had this idea I’m experimenting with,” she explains from on high. “It may never come to anything, but I’ve got this image of people walking into a gallery and looking up at the dress from below.”.

David Clensy 2008

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