Gallery 3
Julie Arkell
Julie Arkell Away
The tale of Julie Arkell’s exhibition – the Away that follows Home of 10 years ago – is one of order, regime and classification. It won’t look that way, of course. It will look as magical and spry as ever her work does. But behind it all was a self-imposed making process that kept her going through mourning the death of her mother (which happened at the end of 2011) and manifested the cycles of grief Arkell experienced, in real and tangible form.
For the main body of this exhibition Arkell made 100 ‘creatures’, one a week. They were finished, just, in July 2014 ready for the exhibition. From the first creature, a small timid thing, to the last creature – more robust and opinionated, striding off – they make a fabulous narrative set. Arkell knew she would make 100 from the start. She has a thing for numbers and the number 100 seemed just right.
