Last weekend I managed to get back to a gallery that I really love, The Tatha Gallery in Newport on Tay.
Slow Praxis is a mixed exhibition exploring the need to slow down. In this exhibition are some pieces by Roland Fraser who takes found wood and creates intricate, beautifully crafted compositions from them. The exhibition runs until 7th October.
"My wooden constructions are a synthesis of assemblage, collage and traditional craftsmanship. Timber is culled from old furniture carcases, farm buildings and skips. I select pieces that have an accumulation of surface markings and general evidence of human traffic. Traces from missing locks, hinges and structural joints also have a particular resonance for me as they refer to previous incarnations. This visceral combination of wear and history imbues the material with an almost totemic quality.The titles of each work refer to the various locations where the fragments used in the work were found, as in ‘Prestongrange’ and ‘Longthorne’. In some of my pieces, the connection between the place and the mood of my work is significant, in others it is more arbitrary.The splicing and editing of original patinated surfaces to create a recontextualised single entity throws up serious formal challenges. As a musician, these dynamics of rhythm, tension and discord are familiar territory." Roland Fraser.
