Polly Apfelbaum

Feelies, 2010
plasticine and polymer clay

Las Vegas Room, 2009
synthetic sequined fabric
dimensions variable

Polly Apfelbaum stated in an essay which accommpanied an exhibition in 2010 that unlike the minimalists of the 1960s, who tried to make something completely unprecedented, a "specific object" that was neither a painting nor a sculpture, I am interested in making objects that maintain the properties of both painting and sculpture: structure and support, flow and movement, colour and surface, repetition and interval.

I find similarities between Apfelbaum's work and my own in terms of the vibrant fun colours that she uses.  Through these colours, Apfelbaum manages to produce a sense of playfulness and humour.  There is a provisionality to her works also that interests me, as through the forms she creates, there is a feeling that they are pieces that could be picked up and re-arranged in another time and place with varying configurations.

With Apfelbaum's works like that of 'Las Vegas Room' above, it is as though you are physically stepping into and around her paintings.  Allowing for full immersion and sensation.  The viewer becomes an active participant in the work, tip-toeing delicately between the negative space of these fallen paintings.