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The month of May bears with it the familiar sentiments of maternal love and (grand)motherly affections. While the smorgasbord of department stores, florists, advertisements and glossy catalogues during this time each seek to facilitate the (trans)action of our loving tributes, Kathryn Kerswell delivered with impeccable timing a grandmother's day exhibition. Titled Abundance the exhibition was indeed an intimate journey, but one that appropriates, transcends and ultimately consolidates the conventional iconography of grandmotherhood with a vibrant quirkiness and rigorous dialogue.
Carefully encased in the window front of the gallery, the work featured a delicate ensemble of media both precious and everyday. An aluminum flyscreen frame taut with yellow nylon netting provided a tableau upon which rows of delicate crisp white patty pans were stitched; each one finished with an individually centred button. Visually, the effect paid homage to the white chrysanthemums traditionally given on mother's day, but peripherally they evoked a nostalgic presence with the fond recollections we hold of grandma's bottled button collections and her penchant for sewing, cross stitch and baking cakes.
Suspended in front of the frame was an embroidery hoop once again rigid with a kitsch remnant of nylon netting reminiscent of homemade tutus and fairy costumes. Pinned onto its unyielding circumference was a series of exquisite gold caste broaches, each one capturing the unique poise of a baby unfurling, reaching, turning and sitting. These anamorphic silhouettes however, do not seek to plot a generic chronology of infancy but rather allude to cherished memories and moments. Kerswell 's delicate accolades aroused in us visions of elderly grandmothers adorned with broaches of semi precious stones rendered in the forms of animals and inanimate objects. lt is an association