ABOUT THE ARTWORK:

"I wanted to create an artwork which used hands to convey the human need for closeness, the cultural disconnect between social groups, and the potential to reach out and heal this gap. This work is about holding space for people who we may perceive as different to ourselves, after many inequalities have been shown up by the pandemic.

The original drawing is created with pen: every mark is an alphabet character. This limited edition print combines several original drawings, individually and uniquely embellished with a few silver-leafed letters.

My drawings with text seek to show the complexity of multilayered stories that exist within all people. I jumbled the text to acknowledge that there are many things unknowable unless you have come from the same cultural background, and that language and knowledge barriers can present misunderstanding, and sometimes deliberate disconnect. Alternatively, if we hold space for others, these cultural differences can become a gift of discovering new things, and a broadening of our minds and our society.

The concept links with my research into nonverbal sign languages, and was born in a year when my own hands were my only live models during the lockdown. The nebulous form is influenced by my previous works which use flocks of birds as an analogy for human communities."

ARTIST’S BIO:

Nicola Anthony (b.1984) is a British artist known for metal text sculptures and burned paper drawings, which give glimpses into the effects of displacement, migration, and intergenerational trauma. She focuses her research on untold narratives, collective memory, and life stories.

“My artwork takes the form of multilayered text sculptures & drawings. I am strongly influenced by language, displacement & otherness. I seek out intersecting human narratives all around the world.

My artworks this year have focused on the unspeakable. I have been deeply affected by history's living ghosts of discrimination, and the systemic inequalities which the pandemic has revealed. This has resulted in drawings made from uninterpretable words and texts. My practice transforms words, signifiers, life stories & oral history into art. I use text fragments to create abstraction & new meaning, and have recently been researching sign language, lip reading, and code switching.

Since 2016 I have worked with official archives & NGOs, and used a methodology of collaborative practice to run story-sharing sessions which inform my art. .”

Buy a limited edition print of Holding Space by clicking below or browse other artworks available to purchase on my online shop here.