Residue (model #3) suggests an ascent, pairing of a ladder-like structure with an angled prop to form a small model. The work plays with transformation, from an ephemeral to enduring material, the fragility, luminosity and otherness of the cardboard is reflected into the solid permanence of bronze. Residue (model #3) belongs to a series of small sculptures, which group two fragments of cardboard together. Paper and cardboard are malleable materials, easily shaped by tearing or folding, leaving impressions of these actions with indentations and fragile textures of the torn edges.
As the title suggest, this work is a model, proposing to exist at a larger scale, but whether this is achieved or not is unimportant. Instead, the idea of a model as a preliminary study is imbued with potential, that through my mind’s eye, I project onto this impoverished pairing of remnant material, a poetic improvisation.
Courtesy of Murray White Room
Anne-Marie May emerged as a member of the influential artist run initiative Store 5, Melbourne in the 1990s. A long-standing interest in architecture and craft informing May’s passion for process and production – making and materials are central to her art. She works with materials in an intuitive way to explore spatial, perceptual and chromatic relationships. Materials as diverse as bronze, felt and transparent acrylic inspire her experiments. Her work lies in the continuum between geometry and gesture, transparency and solidity, void and mass.
Recent projects have included a large scale installation titled Hook Me Up (synaesthesia) at Melbourne Recital Centre (2018); Every Brilliant Eye: Australian Art of the 1990s, National Gallery of Victoria (2017); The Kaleidoscopic Turn, National Gallery of Victoria (2015); Gertrude Edition (2014); Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria (2013).
Anne-Marie May’s work is held in numerous public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Geelong Art Gallery, Fremantle Art Centre, and Heide Museum of Modern Art. It is also held in private collections including the Chartwell Collection, Auckland; and Ten Cubed Collection, Melbourne.
Anne-Marie May is represented by Murray White Room, Melbourne.
patinated bronze
80 x 14 x 10 cm
Finalist
Judges of the 2018 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize: Michael Lynch AO CBE (Australian Arts administrator, former Director of Sydney Opera House and former CEO of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, Hong Kong) and Amanda Love (Director Loveart, independent Art Advisory).
Download PDF (1.7 MB)