Lydia's Blog: 'Rest Work Play Shop Dream Connect' Exhibition, Stew Gallery

For the exhibition ‘Rest Work Play Shop Dream Connect’ at the Stew Gallery, Norwich, I created a sculpture entitled ‘Flowerbed’. With the size restraints of 40x40cm and the theme from the ‘Location’ project, the context of furniture, I decided to use miniature furniture to create my sculpture. I used a dolls house sized double bed which I reassembled with more volume to hold a flower, a Thyme plant. In order to add flowers I used tiny paper roses which I entwined into the plant so that it looked like it was flowering. (It is not the right time of year to buy flowering plants)

Flowerbed was inspired by a larger scale work I created with real bed posts that I positioned amongst the flowers in my garden. Therefore I think the miniature version was an appropriate model for the space available. The larger version played on the idea of bringing the bed into a new context of a garden, but the miniature version was the reverse of this, putting the flowers in the bed, in the setting of a miniature bedroom which I created. In order to tie the miniature sculpture and the larger one together, I included a small picture on the wall of the model bedroom of the real bed sculpture which was in my garden.

Of all of the sections in the exhibition I decided my work fitted best in ‘Rest’ zone. This is because of the function of a bed although the pun means that there is a comical twist on the sculptural piece. The title ‘Flowerbed’ which is spelt the same as flowers in a section of garden also emphasises the pun. This sculptural play on words could be linked to the foot stool which I upholstered for the ‘Clarify’ project, as I stuffed socks in order to create the impression of feet on a foot stool. This work was one of my most effective pieces from the Clarify project so I feel that the Flowerbed is a positive progression from this.

For the display of my Flowerbed piece, I initially felt that a plinth would be the most effective. This would be positioned against the wall so that the miniature picture and curtains could create a small model of a bedroom alongside the flowerbed. In order to experiment with other possibilities for display, I considered hanging the piece with fishing wire. Although this may not require a plinth, I felt this would not be as secure and it would be more difficult to keep the pieces in the correct position. Finally I created a small shelf platform to support the bed and chair. When I positioned them together it was not as sturdy and I was not happy with the way it looked, as it was almost hovering in mid air. Back to my initial idea I decided that the work definitely looked most effective on the plinth, so I painted this a crisp white for the most professional look. I also did a coat of cream paint on the top surface of the plinth. This meant that the items looked like they were in a bedroom setting with a carpet or painted floor rather than blending in to the white plinth.

Overall I am pleased with my work for this exhibition. I feel that looking at my work as it is displayed I am glad that I took the time to carefully consider the best ways to make and display the piece.

Below are photos of my final piece of work, preparation of the gallery space and the private view.