Abstracted Textile-Based Sculptures Take Centre Stage In New Exhibition 'STRANGER WITHIN'

What do the textiles and objects we own say about us? Do materials hold the same memories of their wear and tear as their owners do? And if so, what do those imperfections say about us - the wearer? We don't have the answers to these questions but a new exhibition at Rochelle School in Arnold Circus, STRANGER WITHIN, does.

Bringing together a vast array of new sculptures and wall-based works by collaborative artists Hatty Buchanan and Cecilia Sjoholm, STRANGER WITHIN acts as a personal exploration of the lives of clothes all the while exploring exploring overlapping ideas around identity and internal narratives. Looking at the materiality of cloth and its specific characterised behaviours, the exhibition combines purpose with chance as reworked textiles are formed into new compositions that are placed in conversation with more abstracted works.

In a true meeting of minds, Buchanan’s usual inspiration from second-wave feminist and queer explorations of materials helps to inform Sjoholm's own references to nature that see a collision of sculptures and abstract artworks unwilling to conform. As Sjoholm's pieces poke out and pierce through, Buchanan’s collaged tapestries of repurposed items (many of which include her own clothing) draw attention to the idea that traces of wear can be recontextualised depending on an individual's relationship to the garments.

We all have an intimate relationship with our clothing, whether we realise it or not and so when such threads are put on show for all to see - literally and metaphorically - questions are aroused through the idea of a material memory; something that undoubtedly speaks to us all.

STRANGER WITHIN will be open to the public for two days only from 26 to 28 April.