Collection: Anthea Duffy

@anthea_duffy

There has been a leadening in the practice of Anthea Duffy. She begins with a found object, one that holds an unresolved attraction, and seeks to dissect its function and structure. It’s that prolonged nagging, the background insistence for closer examination, that confirms the pull and promise of ambiguous objects. Via casting and assemblage processes, she is able to re-encounter forms and consequently comprehend their weight. Duffy’s manipulation involves an undermining of the found object’s material integrity; glass vessels become dense in lead, metal becomes weak in silicone, and rust is celebrated in resin. Her relationship to each piece involves a reverence that is devoid of sentimentality and generated instead by the very process of excavation. In pure material transformation, Duffy’s things are recognised, and command deliberation over what they were and what they’ve become. Through this act, the precious nature of the object is enhanced, not translated or redefined, but revealed.