29 November 2007 - 12 January 2008
69 South Audley Street, London W1
Paloma Varga Weisz presents a distinctive body of new work, a series of inextricably intertwined watercolour drawings and mainly wooden sculptures. Given simple, often one word titles, the drawings portray abstract narrative characters such as Geknickter Mann (broken man) and Groβer Hut (big hat). Without contextual surroundings, the figures are concentrated and though the viewer may not be able to place them exactly, they are irrefutably evocative of cultural history, be it mythical, religious or comic. By means of a fusion of influences Varga Weisz’s works encapsulate simultaneously states of adult knowingness and childhood innocence, personal reference and collective memory. Trained as a woodcarver, in her sculptures and drawings, Varga Weisz creates timeless work which she says she wants ‘to take on a life of its own and gain its own expression’. The determination and tenacity with which she works is urgently felt throughout.