Sarah Misselbrook 2016
Calvary
This artwork is created in response to the name and previous use of the building. ‘Calvary’. It was formally used as a laundry, housing two large, concrete baths. The work is inspired by the idea of washing and purifying oneself. Both literally and spiritually.
The materials enforce the contrast between black and white, light and dark, then finally there is life and death. The installation is an experiment with in the space. Including holes and cracks in the old walls.
The final installation presents casts of pure, white plaster fig leaves. They are piled into one of the baths. The artist uses the fig as a symbol for rebirth. The second bath is full of burned fig wood and charcoal. The artist is obsessed with the fig’s ability to grow through concrete, through a crack in the wall, and to be reborn from complete desecration.
Misselbrook, born in the United Kingdom in 1977, earned a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Nottingham Trent. She began her multidisciplinary practice addressing issues, such as the body as canvas and consumer in response to societal expectations.
Misselbrook completed a qualification focussing on disordered psychology and obtained her teaching qualification (PGCE) in 2004 from the University of Southampton.
Misselbrook’s works include sculptural installations, performances and drawings. She attempts to convey educational, religious, and submissive acts. The work is on a quest for perfection, but continually fails.
This ‘structured behaviour’ is providing a new dimension for the artist. It is opening up her practice and interrupting her controlled processes.
The artist has completed several public exhibitions, which includes a large-scale mural in rural Catalonia. Entitled “Protection”, it comments on the protection of the Catalan language by women in the home.
In 2014 Misselbrook created a large-scale installation in NLCS Jeju, South Korea. She took her inspiration from the volcanic island and traditional calligraphy of Jeju. The final series of works incorporated collaborative performances, body casting and printing.
The artist is currently working on site-specific performances and drawing processes. She is immersed in the natural environment.
Misselbrook’s works have been exhibited in public exhibitions, both in the UK and internationally.