Julie Cockburn at Forster

I recently came across Julie Cockburn's work at Forster Gallery. Though the work wasn't displayed in a space that gave it room to breathe and the other artist work in this group show was of a completely different aesthetic which meant I was unable to appreciate the other exhibitors in 'Ten at One'.

Cockburn responds to pre-existing images including maps and whole books by various manual means, such as cutting, collage and sewing. Many include beautiful elegant scribbles - but stitched. I am interested in the relationship between the stitched lines on top of the existing ground. One work 'A Bird in a Bush' looked initially as if Cockburn had just rapidly scribbled on the ornithological book, but the lines were carefully hand stitched. The response wasn't 'off the cuff', but carefully considered and laboured. The stitching is more tactile than a pencil line across a page, this to handle nature is also found in the choice of working on a book, not just pages but the whole book, but open at chosen pages. Why this page? With Cockburn's work like many other artists the response to the work seems to be 'dumb' in terms of a complete blindness to the content of the text. In a way that a child draws in a book, they know the image is there and they know what the image is of but are adding to it in a way that seems to bear no relation to the image or content. The graffiti nature of Cockburn's practice is a loving one, not one of disrespect, but it maybe territorial.



Julie Cockburn is in the group show 'Ten at One' until 31st August 2007
1 Chapel Place, Rivington Street, London EC2A 4DQ


Copy link below to see image of 'A Bird in a Bush'
http://www.forstergallery.com/Julie-Cockburn/a-bird-in-a-bush