Maze Fragment (When time rests, the moments settle together)
In the creation of this work Nicola Anthony was concerned with tangles, lines, the maze of words and the labyrinth of time. She studied the myth of Daedalus - “the greatest artist and the creator of the Labyrinth”. The journey of lines across the paper could be geographical contours, a distorted music stave with tumbling notes, or walking tracks in parallel. The lines lose their way along the route and become more haphazard.
Anthony's drawings are created by burning the surface of calligraphy paper. This drawing rests on a mirror backing which is designed to reflect the light and shadow, and capture faces in the room as little moments becoming entangled in the puzzle. ‘Maze Fragment' is part of a large series in which the lines connect and span across 50 unique artworks, all existing now in parallel, and in different places - a fragmented map.
This work is part of The Ingram Collection of Modern British & Contemporary Art and was on loan to the Lightbox for the exhibition "Redressing the balance: Women Artists from The Ingram Collection" (11 August - 20 September 2020).
It was created in response to Michael Ayrton’s sculpture 'Maze Music', from The Ingram Collection, upon special invitation from the Royal Society of Sculptors and The Ingram Collection. In Ayrton's book 'The Maze Maker', Daedalus says “I never understood the pattern of my life, so that I have blundered through it in a maze.”
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Redressing the Balance: Women Artists from The Ingram Collection