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Estelle Woolley

Chester
A close engagement with the environment is at the core of my research. I work with sculpture, performance and intervention. I am lead artist at Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces Chester and Visiting Lecturer in Fine Art at the University of Chester.
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I have a deep rooted affinity with the countryside and its resources, in part informed by my family's long association with farming. The cyclical element of the processes in nature inspires me, as do the insignificant details that we might often pass by. I am interested in ways that we work with or against nature; how we react and intervene, and how nature responds back at a domestic level and beyond.

Exploring the oscillation between microcosm and macrocosm, I often question how very small things can imply much larger thoughts or concerns. Through a minimal and poetic use of materials, which are often very fragile, I explore possible narratives and layers of meaning. By subtle manipulation I hope to renew a sense of curiosity, while always highlighting the beauty inherent in the forms used.

A significant strand of my practice involves an enquiry into the relationship between the visual and the sonic, between sound and object. My work is concerned with the way in which we ‘see’ sound physically, as an integral component of the sculpture, exploring the embodiment of sound within the object. I adopt an attitude of openness to being in the world, absorbing environmental sounds which spark inspiration. 

Likewise, this approach is embraced in the gathering and collecting of curious objects of synaesthetic correlation, and in the construction of materials. I explore a sculptural dialogue between materials and forms in relation to the site specificity of space.

Since the pandemic my practice has become more collaborative in nature and I have produced several projects involving garment sculpture. These are made from freshly foraged natural materials, and working in collaboration with models, photographers, taxidermists, makeup artists and other visual artists. 

 

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