Fascinated
by the tenuous connection between past, present and future and the
shadowy, illusive meaning of time, Annie Woodford makes work that is
both haunting and enigmatic. The complex cultures of the world’s
indigenous
people, their rituals, belief systems and view of the cosmos, have been
an important influence – amalgamating the mystical, magical and
mythical.
Shifting boundaries between science and metaphysics, the evolution of
new technology and an enduring interest in parallel universe theory
have instilled her pieces with a heightened intensity, whilst an
obsession with hidden worlds has prompted recent investigations into
microscopy: making the unseen seen.
A passion for frozen environments and the message they embrace, not
only from the past but also for the future of our planet, has resulted
in
research trips to the Arctic and Iceland and a detailed study of the
coldest place on Earth – Antarctica. The dichotomy between mankind’s
wish for progress and his proclivity for self-destruction has become an
important theme.
The work has an elegant complexity, sometimes lyrically evocative and
mysterious, often disturbing and unnerving. Seemingly tranquil in
nature but possessing an underlying tension , it speaks of things
that are
at once both strange and familiar. Oscillating between absence and
presence, the past and the future –
hovering in a place between, waiting, hidden from view.
..........
"Her work is about frozen environments, about capturing a fundamental
essence of humanity. The resulting pieces are often disturbing objects
that appear to be hybrids of cellular organisms, torture implements,
tribal tools and early medical utensils. Title such as Savage Trap, Innocent Intruder and Trace Shifter heighten this sense
of darkness and danger, of an encounter with some kind of primeval
lifeform."
Cigalle Hanaor - Breaking the Mould: New Approaches to Ceramics, Black
Dog Publishing, 2007
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