When I Saw You

The artists in this exhibition explore the concept of connection in the curiosity and rituals of the every day, each working with the medium of paper in various ways. When considered in context with the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial, which we are very honoured to be a part of, this exhibition raises questions about what craft is and allows us to examine the idea of technology vs tradition. The work in this exhibition honours the traditional, with hand-crafting at the forefront, and an essential element of each work is the fact that it was made by hand.
Second is the idea that various technologies are used as tools to help make important discoveries, both conceptual and material and that the technologies support, rather than negate, the need for and purpose of craft and craftspersonship. Craft continues to be a connector, a storyteller, a therapy, and a form of enquiry.
Paper is a wonderfully ubiquitous medium, and its ready availability and deceptive simplicity fuels the artistic practice of each artist, who is able to conduct a vast range of enquiries, experimentations, and journeys as they cut, fold, colour, slice and pulp their material. These many methods and means to produce work range from the earthy and sensual to the sacred fractals, with mathematical forms repeating and patterning and tessellations taking us into the spiritual realm. Stories and connections are told, formed, and conveyed through these forms. Planes of surfaces are folded and cajoled into interrelated spaces, giving them different dimensionalities of form. These forms are given value by the stories embedded into the medium, and meanings unfold, sometimes unwittingly.
Craft also has a therapeutic element, and most artisans speak of the importance of working with their hands as contributing to their well-being. Creativity nurtures both the heart and the hands, and in this tactility and the act of making, we are able to maintain a sense of hope, surely an important emotion in these uncertain times.
At the very heart of this exhibition is the connection between the various artists, who share a love affair with paper, and the sense that through art, they are able to see and understand one another from across the ocean.

darryl bedford
Darryl was born in Perth and now resides in the UK. Working with paper is a relatively recent obsession, borne from experimentation with a digital cutting machine, which connects his interest in digital design with that of paper craft. Using traditional tessellated origami techniques, Darryl has combined this with paper cutting, scoring and weaving techniques that increase the flexibility of the sculptures. He is influenced by Ernst Haeckel's microscopic radiolarian illustrations, creating surreal sculptural forms that hang in space as if buoyant in liquid.
Although technology is integral to Darryl's design process, he also emphasises the tactile quality of the material. This yields artistic outcomes but is also a therapeutic and calming activity that has become vital for his well-being during lockdown. Darryl also employs video and photography to document and explore the fluid movement and kinetic potential of the work.