Re-collection is an exhibition of works by Sue Henderson, Penny Mason, Anne Morrison and Susan Pickering. It follows on from an exhibition at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) in 2015 entitled Re-Imagined. Both exhibitions feature works made in response to items in the QVMAG archives.
The artists made several visits behind the scenes to view the collection, where they found an accumulation of a great variety of objects: on shelves, in cabinets, drawers, boxes and racks. As well as being attracted to particular items, their responses reflect an interest in the very nature of collecting: its layered histories, and the conflict between conservation and decay, between restoration and allowing the history, as shown in the deterioration of surfaces, to remain visible.
The four artists have responded variously to objects drawn from diverse cultures and places, as well as to geological material and natural specimens, and more generally to the nature of collection itself; the tensions between conservation, preservation, restoration and allowing items to show the signs of their age and the wear and tear caused by their own histories.
Sue Pickering
Visual artists
Anne Morrison
Visual artists
