Saltarello
Saltarello is an Italian folkloric dance and used here as the title of this exhibition of sculptures and drawings by Kara Lyons. This work, although abstract, is suggestive of the uninhibited movement of women’s’ dance as a celebration of convivial feminine joy.
The sculptures have been made using an ituative process; evolving rather than pre-planned. by ‘revealing’ forms suggested by the material - in this case, cast plaster, the artist draws upon an existing repertoire of references such as bones, beasts, fluids and flowers. the works always allude to the figure, in this case to figures in motion. stylistically classical in effect, these sculptures subvert tradition by focussing on interior rather than external figurative forms and seek to fine expression for the feminine.
- Kara Lyons
Karai
Plaster, 2021
Fata
Plaster, 2021
Saltarello
Sculptures - plaster
Drawings - charcoal and graphite
2021
Demeter
Plaster, 2021
Interior
Plaster, 2021
Karen Lyons is a sculptor whose work embraces installation, live performance, public commissions and gallery exhibition. Drawing is an essential part of the process of developing all of her work via sketching and visualisation and is also pursued as a creative medium in its own right. She has been working on a series of drawings which reference folkloric tales and archetypes as metaphors for current events and states of mind.
Karen works with Paul Haywood on the project Guns to Goods to create artworks using metal recycled from firearms.