Jade Gilbert, MFA

Graduated from University of Leeds

Selected by Victoria Lucas

Installation shot, 2009

Jade Gilbert manipulates and reconstructs ephemeral materials, removing their original function and exposing their fragility. Sheets of paper are scratched, worn, sewn, and etched. Their boundaries as functional objects are removed, almost destroyed; and are transformed in to something ethereal. 

Naturally derived yet manufactured fibres are torn and stressed as they are pushed to their limits, held together with lengths of hair on the verge of disintegration. Gilbert's processes are directly evident, as straight lines, pierced holes and small cuts are repeated over colourless surfaces. The ink, graphite and carbon paper are traces of this intense mark making, their pigment penetrating the disrupted material. Time and patience are woven into the fibres that have been severed and altered from their original formation.

Time is a huge component of the processes involved in creating these works. Their titles, all referencing dates, create an awareness of each second, minute, and hour that is recorded on to the surface of each piece. These dates are presumably the dates in which each piece was created, some more specific than others. The direct connection between the surface and the artist's hand traps a series of moments in each artefact's appearance. Like a moving image or a long exposed photograph, time is captured and archived on the delicate layer of exposed fibres. The fragility of these objects and their time-based presence allows the audience to consider their own fragilities, as the temporal states of these transitional objects reference the ephemeral body. (Victoria Lucas, 2009)