TERE
November 2023
Solo exhibition by Annie Wallwork, exhibited at
Visual Diary Gallery
Curated and scored by Teagan Ramsay
Memory traces enact themselves through repetitions. The repetition mark, the
palpitating heart, the convulsing in my left side, the cyclical return of something lost;
metronomic, monotonous. – Annie Wallwork
TERE was an exhibition of series of recent drawings and sculptural accents by Annie Wallwork that explore the potency of implicit memory. Reminiscent of decaying and cracking surfaces, the artworks embody tangible and symbolic haunting dimensions. References to excoriation–obsessive skin picking which results in swollen or broken skin–and decomposition, the works evoke abject sensations and repetitious bodily compulsions. Beyond the carnal, the works delve into the complexities of anxiety and mental instability, revealing the despondency of the human psyche. Operating as ephemeral spectres, they recollect unsettling memories that subsist on the edge of perception, embodying a realm that resists complete visibility yet consistently comes to consciousness. Wallwork ruminates on the apprehension surrounding one's own body, and how one controls and relates to it, reflecting the unconscious workings that manifest in the corporeal. Emitting unsettling and anxious atmospheres, the artworks function as an alternative to language, communicating the tension between pleasure and lament through psycho-somatic articulations of embodied affect.palpitating heart, the convulsing in my left side, the cyclical return of something lost;
metronomic, monotonous. – Annie Wallwork
Tere, rooted in the Proto-Indo-European meaning to rub, turn, twist and pierce, becomes a method of articulation in Wallwork’s practice. Implicit memories are etched into the physical and cellular essence of objects and paper, existing as traces of bodily unconsciousness. Embodied pressure and graphite pigments coalesce under the weight of frottage, evoking fragments of the disquieted mind. Wallwork imbues the material with neurotic states employing repetitive haptic movements to erode and mould the surface through an intimate and symbiotic relationship with the body. These repetitions accumulate in a temporal unfolding, becoming complex ruminations of tenderness and grief.
The exhibition was accompanied by a score by Teagan Ramsay which featured sonic samples from Wallwork’s practice.
Listen: Teagan Ramsay and Annie Wallwork, Tender Scrawl, 2023. Sonic score 14.43 min.
Visual Diary Gallery. Photo by Teagan Ramsay.
Visual Diary Gallery. Photo by Teagan Ramsay.
Visual Diary Gallery. Photo by Teagan Ramsay.
Visual Diary Gallery. Photo by Teagan Ramsay.
Visual Diary Gallery. Photo by Teagan Ramsay.