Through intuition and process the relationship between plaster and knitting has been explored. The result is a sensuous experience of five sculptures that stand with a central focus on their presence as objects in the space. Their formal qualities reminisce ideas of minimalism and abstraction while their vibrant colours leave them dissociated from the world around us.
 

I was drawn to the use of knitting because of its therapeutic nature. When the knitting expands it has a sense of achievement that grows warmer and softer as the size increases. When I first combined the knitting and plaster together, the plaster acted as a structure and backbone that the knitting formed around. It quickly became a wrapping and dressing notion which developed into making the knitting the core element of the sculpture.
 

I have developed this body of work by essentially recreating the same objects just deepening the quality and characteristics with each discovery, much like the practice of Phyllida Barlow, an artist who takes the process of discovering and playing with materials very seriously. Barlow repeats and follows through ideas she has and when it doesn’t work she tries again. She thinks of it as teaching the material to be unconventional, or capable of things it perhaps shouldn’t be. The area of Barlow’s practice where I see a similarity with my own practice is her way of encountering materials, making objects that exist not quite as something we know. Anish Kapoor is another artist I have took a lot of understanding from. Ideas about how the artist works with not really knowing and turns it into certainty as the objects become physical through the exploration of materials. I feel these two artists are closely related to each other and my own discoveries. I have become more aware about how my decisions have informed what I have created.
 

The knitting was formed on decisions I made in the process of using this technique. I would choose to change the size of the needles or remove and add stitches if I felt the form was bland or straight for too long. I decided early on that the pieces of knitting would all vary in size, shape and holes as this would gain interesting surfaces and textures. I had learned from experience that wet plaster struggled to get through smaller stitches so I made it up as I went along constantly looking at the shape and choices I had already made.
 

The process for making the structure involved both adding and removing plaster. The smooth rounded sides were built up layer by layer, and the middle was kept hollow to ensure the sculptures remained light. I used a rolling technique to ensure it was an even layer, but having a flat surface to push it against was making it difficult to avoid giving the sculpture a flat edge. I repeatedly rolled the sculpture back and forth while the plaster was wet to get a cylinder shape, and had to ensure none seeped out of the edges. I removed the plaster using tools and sanding methods, which has left small scratches on the surface as evidence of their making.
 

The cylinder has been a recurring form throughout the development of the project, and is a central point of gravity which things orientate around and where things happen. Each time the cylinder was revisited in my work, it was reviewed and changed. To start, it had a lumpy and messy outer surface with a circular interior, eventually it became a crisp and defined edge, and finished as a smoother surface that is uncomplicated. The decision to eliminate any gaps to create a solid edge, allowed a pure focus on the relationship and combination of the knitting and plaster.