David Copperfield, Nicola Anthony, Found objects, book and music stand (c)

Last night saw the opening of Ambiguous Portrait of a Cunning Linguist, at Ikkan Art Gallery in Singapore. I was pleased to have my sculpture David Copperfield selected for the group show of 12 internationally respected artists.

Do visit the show which will be openi until 27th July 2013, at Ikkan Art Gallery, Singapore, and get in touch to find out when I will be at the gallery.

About the artwork:

I often go on treasure hunts in search ofold books, scraps of stories, manuscripts and magazines.  I am intrigued with both the visual shapes & patterns of letters and words as they scrawl,  meander and march across the page… and also with their wider significance. They are story tellers and signifiers, they represent & depict the world out there beyond the page. They are cunning, devilish, candid, true.

I seek the heart-pounding moment of a find – something which can be appropriated into new works of art. During my material and inspiration sourcing missions, I search through markets, friends bookshelves, attics, bargain bins, old skips and charity shops… On one occasion I rescued a set of beautiful Charles Dickens novels which sadly, were slightly water damaged and consequently had been thrown into a skip, never to be enjoyed or read again. And so a new sculpture entitled ‘David Copperfield’ began…

The story of David Copperfield is a book with lots of settings, sub-stories, changing relationships and changing identities. For me it made sense to try and renew this epic Dickens book by cutting away the damaged sections to reveal a new story existing within the same text. I made the artwork ‘David Copperfield’ by carefully carving away words until I reached a page where the next word fitted within the sentence, and so, word by word,  a new, haphazard & eccentric story was revealed.

Visitors at Ikkan Gallery’s Ambiguous Portrait of a Cunning Linguist, 2013

Visitors at Ikkan Gallery’s Ambiguous Portrait of a Cunning Linguist, 2013

I am honoured to be exhibiting alongside internationally renowned artists who have been inspirations to my own art practice, including Ashley Bickerton, Mel Bochner, Glenn Ligon, Harland Miller, Lucas Samaras, Gary Simmons, Stezaker, and Lawrence Weiner.

Join the mailing list for future invites to openings here