Paula Dunlop
TUFT
2019
Howlite, steel wire
24cm x 24cm x 8cm
Howlite, an inexpensive stone often used to mimic other minerals, is used in its natural, pale state.
Following past woven works, the manufactured howlite beads are brought together one-at-a-time into a twisting length, then joined end-to-end to form a closed loop. The dark stringing material highlights the construction.
Design direction is taken from the materials' packaging; the weave's wave-form pattern — shorter beads moving to longer beads, to short again — is determined by the way the beads are packaged for transport and sale. 1/2 wave length = 1 package of the beads.
Pin Prints
2019
Toned cyanotype photograms
18cm x 26cm
Impressions of ephemeral sculptural assemblages, cast onto paper as cyanotype photograms.
The assemblages were made from hundreds of store-bought, steel fork pins — conventionally used by knitters to join seams or to hold a garment in shape during the blocking process. Experiments with the pins revealed that the ergonomic bend at the top allows for two to be connected, held together through tension. By passing pin through pin, many different shaped forms can be assembled and re-assembled.
The photograms, a 1:1 scale image created through direct contact between the assemblages and the photo emulsion-painted paper, not only capture shadowy glimpses of the pins before their dismantlement, but also become ‘things’ in their own right — present, paper things — existing somewhere between object and image.
Cover
2019
Timber milliner's block, glass beads, thread
16cm x 17cm x 21cm
Beads, draped and handwoven over an old hat block, following its form. The beaded rows increase and decrease, are taken around and under, the block, beads and thread bound together, now belonging to one-another.
Disc (glossy black)
2019
Glass beads, thread
Dimensions variable, 33cm diameter when flat
Glass beads, handwoven into a semi-malleable, radial form taken from the pattern of beading used in Cover. The pattern and rhythm of the beading is interrupted by half-anchored bead protrusions that can be flipped in different directions.
Disc prints 1-5
2019
Toned cyanotype photogram and pencil on paper
41cm x 27cm
Cyanotype photograms—made by placing Disc (glossy black) onto paper treated with a photo-sensitive emulsion. The symmetry and order of the object’s making is ‘thrown off’ by its malleability when placed on the paper’s surface.