Sarah Woodfine
 |
presented at five years 40 Underwood Street,
London N1 |
Teddy 2000 pencil on paper 150 x 110cm (detail)
16 June to 16 July 2000
Sarah Woodfines new drawings come from an old catalogue of toys. After selecting, Sarah sets to work intensively letting her intuitions and emotions transform the image. Through a series of metamorphoses, the innocent representation of a teddy bear becomes a multi-faceted persona where the familiar and the strange co-exist. The isolated Teddy seems to invite us closer with a friendly paw, however the sharp claws are out! Tenderness, insecurity and fear are all present in those images; but each figure stands facing the world: we realize they are survivors.
Sarahs extraordinary use of the pencil in these drawings enables her to create different surface qualities: a dark intense oval surrounds a finely drawn figure where the precise and obsessive lines creating fur or fabric are juxtaposed to more abstract and bold areas.
These large images, presented as portraits, stir in us conflicting emotions: they attract and reject, they threaten and touch: they keep us puzzled.
Sarah Woodfine studied at the Royal Academy Schools. Selected exhibitions: 1999 - H Gamle Prestegard, Norway; Haugesund Billedgalleri, Norway; Perfume, Danielle Arnaud, London. 1998 - Adorn, Jibby Beane, London; Animal Beauty, Danielle Arnaud, London; Open Drawing Exhibition, Cheltenham Hull Berlin. 1997 - Works on paper, Danielle Arnaud, London. 1995 - Decadence, Trondhjems Kunstforening, Norway; London, Galleri F15, Moss, Norway. 1993 - Volatile body, Installation, Sussex. 1988 - Surreal Object Exhibition, Tate Liverpool.