Kate Newby

Mr + Mrs Hands

Mr + Mrs Hands by Kate Newby

Artwork Detail

Throughout her practice Newby co-opts existing materials, forms and spaces, and in nuanced ways alters them slightly so that they appear subtly different to the viewer.

Newby’s long-term interest in inverting the relationship between exterior and interior spaces stems from her occupancy of urban space, living in urban areas, walking and inhabiting these sights purposefully since her youth. To these inversions she brings her own observational quirks and sensitivity. Her intimate ‘actions’ are incorporated in photographic documents, as well as ‘corrections’ or animations of exterior space by using materials commonly found in urban areas. She employs colour and text which resonate on an emotional level with the viewer, but she seldom steps outside the object’s pre-existing references.

The clay works in Mr + Mrs Hands, for example, were originally shown in Bristol and respond to the environment. The texts come from a church nearby the exhibition space in Bristol, and a YouTube video featuring the Bristol accent; the clay and glass works incorporate local clays and other elements from industry, thereby referencing and responding to the location.

Title
Mr + Mrs Hands
Artist/creator
Kate Newby
Production date
2014
Medium
fired porcelain, earthenware and stoneware, hand formed glass, table, ink on paper
Dimensions
88kg
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2015
Accession no
2015/13
Other ID
X2015/348/1 Old Accession Number
Copyright
Copying restrictions apply
Department
New Zealand Art
Display status
Not on display

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