Tobias’ mother is an artist. She crochets old video tape into three-dimensional floppy sculptures that invariably have a feminist or other radical political message, often revealed through their witty titles as much as the forms themselves. Mother and son collaborated on an artwork for a show that was all about collaboration – the Infuse Art Prize, curated by Ruby Pilven and exhibited at Ross Creek Gallery, invited artists of different skill sets to collaborate on a single piece. The duo’s strategy was to work in stages: Tobias would design a pair of plinths, or armatures, or carapaces, that would create their own opportunities and constraints for showing soft sculptures, and Heather would occupy and co-opt them as she saw fit. Tobias’ initial testing of the cardboard construction happened in his parents’ kitchen. Heather named the works (ho)rrocks/paper/scissors #1 and (ho)rrocks/paper/scissors #2 (she loves a pun). These particular titles don’t reveal much of the feminist theory behind her forms, but perhaps the viewer can make out snakes, doilies, womb-like vessels, bricks, and possibly even some religious references in the textured black constructions. Oh, and Tobias is an architect – so perhaps the viewer can also spot some brutalist references in the smooth brown constructions!
Location: Ross Creek Gallery
Date: 2024
Photography: Tobias Horrocks