Nicola Yeoman – “In Waiting”

Scrapbook Circles series

Scrapbook Circles series

Scrapbook Circles series

Scrapbook Circles series

Scrapbook Circles series

Scrapbook Circles series

In Waiting
Nicola Yeoman
PRIVATE VIEW THURSDAY 26TH JANUARY 2012 6.30-8.30 PM
Exhibition continues until 17th March 2012

For her first exhibition with Wyer Gallery, British artist Nicola Yeoman will create a large, site-specific installation, principally composed of drapery and cement. The cement circle which will inhabit the gallery is part of a series of circular sculptures in different materials that form an ongoing body of work.

In common with much of Yeoman’s work, the new installation will play with perspective. Yeoman will use the aperture of the gallery window to frame a single, stately, sculptural form hovering in the foreground of the interior. However, as the viewer enters the gallery space the sculpture disbands into parts, acquiring an animate quality as it separates out and reveals its true depth of field. In this process of changing – and as the viewer finds him or herself able to walk within and about the work – the relationship of the viewer with the object is renegotiated and the interplay of dependence altered. Who or what is ‘in waiting’ – be this a reference to the condition of expectation, or of ambush or, perhaps more playfully, to a sense of courtly attendance – is up for grabs.

The installation is part of a series of six circular sculptures using different materials that Yeoman has photographed and which are available as a signed, limited edition portfolio.

Yorkshire born Nicola Yeoman moved to London in 2001 and worked at the Guardian as a picture editor whilst studying furniture at Guildhall University. Her combined love of photography and her practical skills as a designer led to an accidental career as a set designer. Now, at first glance at least, it is her eye for the theatrical, honed and developed in this latter role, that most informs her current artworks. Yeoman’s childhood spent growing up on a farm in North Yorkshire is also a big influence on her work: the dens she made in barns are still evident in her work today. Her sets range from elaborate interiors, to junk yard sculptures and ethereal and dreamlike worlds. She uses a wide array of different materials as well as everyday and discarded objects. The installations whether they are built in trees or industrial interior spaces are built to specific vantage points, play with perspective and always have hidden surprises, stories and details entwined.

Yeoman’s first public art installation, entitled Home, was hosted by Tracey Neuls at 2010’s London design festival. A site-specific artist commission at the Wapping Project gallery quickly followed. Her work has been featured on the front covers of publications such as New York Times magazine, Wallpaper* and Vogue and her work is featured on Jay-Z’s Blueprint album cover.

Nicola Yeoman at The Wyer Gallery 

Nicola Yeoman’s Website

Nicola Yeoman on EIL