Phyllida Barlow's 'pompoms' are large, bright, colourful spheres, suspended from the ceiling. Barlow first created these sculptures in the 1990s, but has continued to develop them since. Made from fabric and rope, Barlow's pompoms beg to be touched and played with. Her use of space, texture and colour suggest a playfulness about her work which I find relates to my own practice. Our work obviously shares similarities in that both feature soft sculptures suspended from the ceiling, however, Barlow's are much more colourful than my own.
We are also both interested in the idea of artwork being 3-Dimensional, and something that you walk around, viewing it from different angles.
I personally much prefer sculptural work, especially when it is interactive in some way, because I enjoy feeling as though I am part of the work. To me, Barlow's pompoms are interactive simply because you are encouraged to walk through them, rather than just stand on the sidelines and view them from one angle. This appeals to me and is something I have incorporated into my own work.
Her work, much like my own, is strange to look at and may be quite amusing to some. Barlow herself has described her work as ‘...kind of absurd', before going onto explain how its absurdity is what [she] find[s] fascinating’. I find Barlow's work to be fun and playful, but also intruiging. I want to see it in real life, and touch and play with the pompoms which is exactly how I want my audience to feel when looking at my work. I am unsure whether this was her intention, but I find Barlow's work successful because of this.
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