Amanda Duggan

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Rhythm and Flow 2023

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Each piece of my work is a conversation between my intuition and rational mind. A practice of making from the inside out. With a deep connection to the quiet spaces, I feel there is so much to appreciate. In a busy, maximalist world hung up on perfection, never more have I felt the need to surround myself with less. My work offers an alternative to the complexities of life. An opportunity to slow down, question beauty and sit with our vulnerabilities. It aims to share a common human experience in a tangible way. 

 

I enjoy nothing more than exploiting the intricate qualities of individual materials in a reductive way. How they interact or sit together fascinates me. Working with limited materials and a restrained palette has allowed me to create a rhythmic language that focuses on specific elements, particularly line, surface and tone. In my practice, I see myself as a facilitator. Listening to the internal rhythms, I am led by the details and choreograph each in order to celebrate their purity with as little interference as possible. It isn’t a conscious process. Each is an improvisation. An emotive record and visceral response with a balance of success and failure that can often lead to new and exciting discoveries. Working small and large scale, each is an object in its own right, the substrate being integral to the whole. These substrates are the backbone to the work and are selected for their individuality before being worked with, rather than onto. It’s a ‘what if..’ approach with simplicity at its core. Where pared-back compositions evolve organically, allowing for time to engage, select, apply and sit with each of the various stages of making. The outcome is almost irrelevant.