Abi Charlesworth is a North Yorkshire/ Glasgow based sculpture and installation artist. Having studied a foundation in Art and Design at Leeds College of Art, and a BA (hons) Fine Art at Bath School of Art and Design she is currently in her first year of the MFA programme at the Glasgow School of Art.
She has recently been part of the shows Perespectives at GSA, Glasgow, Stunning, Fierce and Yellow at The Auxiliary. Middlesborough and Gallery North, Newcastle. Charlesworth also has a collaborative sculptural practice called MASH with Gwenllian Davenport which acts as respite from her own practice.
“The object fights the boundary of the everyday but never entirely escapes its initial form. Through photography, drawing and the making the object is known as a once-remembered shape with just enough familiarity to question the uncanny. These objects cry out and shout their edges, tactility and form across space to be recognised and deconstructed. Reoccurring in the subconscious their selection is inevitable only a meaning of when. Already neglected they finally see an escape from banality to shed their form.
Their material adaptation essential to their liberation. As they creep away from the original their contradiction to function allows for playfulness in the object’s aesthetic. Their removal from context is where the activation between materiality and the everyday start negotiating. Out of place, they are lurking in plain sight, obvious in their misplacement.
Situated, stationary and silent they await activation. A vibration of expectation shudders through them as they begin to shift and transform. Both lighter and heavier the objects tumble into conformation. Unhappy they grimace and plead to be shifted until they find a stranger they can converse with. Once at ease they begin. A deep sigh, a pause, a thought – they are talking.
From edge to edge, they parry the space with tension, holding on to their form. The hand reveals an object’s skin, crossing a boundary between realities. Restless energy upsets the mundane drawing eyes across the object’s surface. Fighting for individuality they simmer into new routine. Settled and silent.”
