Sally de Courcy — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

May 5

May 5 Sally de Courcy

Biography

Sally de Courcy after an earlier career as a doctor, qualified in 2016 from the University of Creative Arts, Farnham with a first- class honours degree, scholarship and masters with distinction in Fine Art. She is interested in repetition of cast objects and works in different mediums including bronze. The objects are re-assembled to reveal a narrative. Her experience of working with refugees is reflected in her work, which often stands for those who are treated as less than human. The philosophical reasons for repetition of violence through history explored by Butler and Zizek have influenced her. Recently her work concerns humanitarian aspects of the COVID19 pandemic. Sally is a member of IAVA, International Association of Visual Artists and Continuum. She has had publications, recently in Flux Review Magazine and Artist Talk magazine. She has exhibited throughout the UK and internationally, recently at the Borders Exhibition in Venice, Espacio Gallery London, the Ty Pawb, Wrexham Wales and at the D31 gallery, Doncaster and currently at the Line Contemporary Art Space, London E14 3AE. Sally has future exhibitions during 2021 in London and in the UK. Sally lives in Woking, UK.

Artist Statement

My work aims at challenging our perception of ourselves, our fragility and strength. My sculptures evolve by manipulating multiple cast objects so that the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Using repetition as emphasis, the outcome has a decorative geometry and kinetic unity that expresses are shared human experiences and conditions. In my earlier medical career, whilst working in the developing world, I was exposed to the suffering of refugees from a genocidal regime. Much of my work revisits these experiences as a witness of human suffering. My work is not autobiographical in the figurative sense, but like many artists explores the liminal space between conscious representation and unconscious influence. Using varied materials, I cast repeated contextually linked objects that when perceived are re-assembled to reveal a hidden story. My work is often decorative but the narrative behind the work is frequently sinister and sometimes disturbing. The sum is like an optical puzzle oscillates between beauty and nightmare.

What first prompted you to think of becoming an artist?

An interest in social justice led me away from art into a career in medicine. Early in my training, whilst young and working in the developing world, I was exposed to the suffering of refugees from a genocidal regime These images stayed with me when life and family took me back to the UK and the safety of general practice in Surrey. My own future seemed comfortable until sudden and serious illness catapulted me into retirement at the age of 40. No longer able to do the job I loved and facing an uncertain future, I turned back to art and to art school. The academic training, I received over eight challenging years at the University of the Creative Arts, extended and consolidated my practice as a conceptual artist. It allowed me to rebuild myself, piece by piece.

What kind of an artist do you ultimately see yourself?

I am inspired by my experiences as both observer and participant, as practitioner and patient, most recently as an immunocompromised artist living a shielded existence in relative social isolation. My interest in making is highly personal, building repetitively from the small to the large, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I began by repeatedly casting simple objects and arranging them to create more complex forms, pursuing the well trodden path of abstract repetition, and the magnifying repetition of imperfection, as a means of representing physical, social, and cultural evolution. An epiphany came at art school, when I was challenged to make the abstract more personal, to bring more of myself into the peace. In my case this has meant revisiting my experiences as a witness of human suffering, which is reflected in my work and often stands for those who are treated as less than human.

What are you hoping to communicate to the viewer through your work?

The contextually linked objects in my work reveal a hidden narrative. I would like the narrative within my art to be a platform to raise awareness of subjects that are often overlooked or ignored within society and to be a focus for discussion. My work aims at challenging our perception of ourselves, our fragility and strength. The outcome is deliberately decorative but hiding darker and often sinister subjects that when revealed create dissonance. The sum like an optical puzzle, oscillates between beauty and nightmare. I use repetition to emphasis my ideas and concerns.

Can you explain the process of creating your work?

My practice is very process orientated, making moulds to cast objects over and over. Repetition as a means of artistic practice requires considerable patience and it is at times laborious and obsessive. Creativity often starts only when all the objects are made. I often do not know what the final outcome will be until I start arranging the objects and the sculpture slowly evolves, sometimes through a happy accident! It has taught me not to have pre- conceived ideas, to keep an open mind and to explore materials and to take risks. I am passionate about my work and it is a privilege to explore and share my ideas with others when exhibiting.

What is your favourite part of the creative process?

My favourite part of the creative process is the unpredictability of the final outcome. Many sculptors rely on drawings with a vision of how their work will be. However, my sculptures only start to evolve when manipulating multiply cast objects. I see these studio experiments as my 3D drawings and I find it exciting when the multiple pieces articulate together to create labyrinthine sculptures. These were recently described as “an infinite geometry that doesn’t just unite kinetic forces, but human experiences and human conditions.”

Can you give us an insight into current projects and inspiration, or what we can look forward to from you in the near future?

I am currently working on a work called The Colour of Mourning which reflects the hazardous movement of refugees crossing the English Channel in escalating numbers since the closure of air and lorry routes to the UK during the pandemic. I am using over 1000 symbolic objects including dinghies, paddles, lifebuoy, weapons, bones and child objects. Driftwood with faces reflect the constant movement of refugees arriving on English beaches. The objects are arranged in a circular mandala, symbolic of movement and white is the colour of mourning in many cultures. This has been accepted for the Focus Art fair, Fold Gallery London in July and next year at Fresh Air Sculpture, UK. I am also exhibiting pandemic works at the Oxo Tower Gallery , London in September.

Website www.sallydecourcy.co.uk

Instagram @decourcysally