Tamara Henderson

Seasons End: Painting Healer

Rodeo Gallery, London

17 May – 29 July 2017

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Two flights of stairs up from the flux of Charing Cross Road, Tamara Henderson’s installation at Rodeo Gallery in London, Seasons End: Painting Healer,is like a crowded but frozen market place. Packed into the gallery, the sculptures have a distinctively human form, with outstretched arms, large blocky feet and a variety of objects for heads, ranging from small glass spheres, disks covered with metallic orange glitter, loose copper coils and tufts of hay. The sculptures are made from simple wooden crossbars and are clothed with handmade garments. Rectangular in shape, each textile piece has been individually decorated with symbolic motifs. Repeated across a number of the works, are large closed eyes sewn onto a black background in iridescent fabric. Their oversized lashes dangle down like long silvery hair or torrentuous tears. Taking us back to the 1970s or ’80s with its mix of metallic fabrics, blocky shapes, flowers and occult symbolism, the installation has a melancholy and nostalgic feel, heightened by the soft electronic music that pervades the space and the work’s outmoded craft-like production techniques. By using sewing to make these works, Henderson nods towards feminist art practices and the sexual division of labour. The exhibition draws on both psychic and geographic experiences. Henderson collects objects from a range of sources during her travels to create her sculptures, such as textile markets and curiosity shops. Since 2011 she has used hypnosis as a way of tapping into unconscious thought processes, in order to generate ideas for her work. She also uses the Surrealist technique of free association and has employed spiritual practitioners, such as aura readers, to assist her in accessing the depths of her imagination.

Sheer squares

Tamara Henderson, My mother in ashes, 2016.Wood, cotton, ribbon, copper, lace, potpourri, spandex, plaster, dimensions variable. Photograph Ruth Clark.

Installation view, Tamara Henderson, Seasons End: Panting Healer, Rodeo,London, 2017.Photograph Plastiques.