Sophistry

Sophistry was comprised of three large scale paper constructions suspended side by side in the Ewart Gallery, Workshop Arts Centre, Willoughby. Each consisted of four layers of white, lightweight paper supported at intervals by thin wooden rods and suspended by fishing line, which extended into the adjacent room. They were lifted in a gentle rhythm and allowed to fall softly, like a pebble through water. The movement created a wave motion from one end of the gallery to the other. In the next room is ‘the mechanism’, made from an old exercise bike, a discarded mountain bike, ropes, pulleys and recycled timber. When the mountain bike was pedalled, the exercise bike turned a lever that moved the paper constructions in the gallery.

The three linear sculptures moved together, almost in sync, but not quite. The paper moved fluidly, drifting, falling, fluttering and rising to the ceiling. Upon entering the gallery the viewer was submerged within the interplay of flowing shadow and overlapping undulations of paper. Sophistry was an adaptable metaphor, bringing to mind the multitude of gentle movements that surround us and the monumental movements of the earth.