Helen Pailing

Defunct

15th January - 26th February 2010

The forms in ‘Defunct’ are dictated by manipulating magnetic tape through binding and clamping.
Contradictions are created: man-made and organic; sinister or vulnerable; hollow or full; epic bulges in a landscape or microscopic mutations on a petri dish.  The light from within suggests the inanimate objects could possess animate qualities.’Defunct’ makes reference to advances in technology that often result in a ‘disposable’ approach to mass production and design.  As tape, the tangible method of recording data, is superseded by digital technology, perhaps at some level the human psyche is touched by the creations that are produced.
Graduating with a BA honours degree in Embroidery 2004, Helen takes a lateral approach to the subject using stitch to represent how we are universally connected.  Choosing publicly accessible places to exhibit, Helen’s work has been displayed internationally and at several festivals including Deptford X, 2007.  The street level 24 hour accessibility was the initial attraction of the m2 Gallery.  The work could be discovered by chance and is removed from the often clinical restraints of a commercial gallery.  Although highly tactile and displayed at arm’s length, the forms are untouchable, trapped within the confines of m2 space, adding to the appeal.