Louise Black
Looking at you, looking at her, looking at herself: An experimental body of work serving space for labour, mending, looking and reflecting.
About
Through physiology, multidisciplinary artist Louise Black (b.1992) investigates the female figure as a main catalyst point. In touch with issues of female identity, the body and the maternal as subject, Black investigates alternative methods of seeing and being seen. Through a selected use of mediums aiming to interrogate the link between gender, craft, and domesticity. A blurring of the distinction between interior and exterior, figurative representation and abstraction materialises. A practice inspired by human anatomy and the beautiful and the grotesque, influences and directs sculptural works. Appearing both familiar and unsettling simultaneously, at one with the human condition. Works in a visual narrative hover between birth and mortality, and the precarious thresholds in-between .
In a space which is both static and on the border of transition, an experimental performance is a vital component to the body of work. Materials and processes embedded within the installation are charged with both tenderness and violence, aiding a need to express internal emotions. With nods to the formalities of a surgical theatre, a dressing table, and a sewing loom a practical workspace is served for labour, mending, looking, and reflecting. Guided by diagrams, quilted textile works are produced through the repetitive rhythm of a darning needle. As ragged edges of Black’s nails catch the delicate surfaces of the textiles, moments of caring and self-care are cautiously considered.
![The artist sits sewing at a working table with her back to the camera. A live stream of her hands working is projected onto the wall in front of her.](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/student_work_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/louise_black_image_1_0.jpg?itok=dPW52UaQ)
Still from performance Working table: Internal dialogue and the stitching of a layering, 2 - 11 September, 2022
![3 flesh toned wooded plates hang on the wall with negative spaces cut out in the shape of wombs. textile cord hang down to the floor.](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/student_work_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/louise_black_image_2_0.jpg?itok=DMlAgKM_)
![A black and white image of the artist turning a sewing loom frame on the surface of the table. A pin cushion holds lots of needles.](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/student_work_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/louise_black_image_3.1.jpg?itok=F1P9LBGG)
Still from performance Working table: Internal dialogue and the stitching of a layering, 2 - 11 September, 2022
![Three working drawings of figurative sculptural works, alike a diagram on cream archival paper.](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/student_work_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/louise_black_image_4_0.jpg?itok=tTE4w6Ow)
![Two sculptural works lie on the floor crafted from tan nylon tights and wadding. One holds polished aluminium cast bones down its back.](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/student_work_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/louise_black_image_5_0.jpg?itok=wULxcXhL)
![The artist performs combing of hair at the working table by throwing long lengths onto a hair hackle.](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/student_work_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/louise_black_image_6_0.jpg?itok=huiflW6W)
Still from performance Working table: Internal dialogue and the stitching of a layering, 2 - 11 September, 2022
![A flesh tone relief print with coloured pencil illustration, in a white frame, on a titled wall bracket.](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/student_work_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/louise_black_image_7_0.jpg?itok=uWL2D30h)
![A round soft sculpture resembling an embryo or a fruit lies on the floor made from tan coloured nylon and wadding. Long brown hair flows out its throat.](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/student_work_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/louise_black_image_8_0.jpg?itok=lhoTxksF)
![An installation view of most works previously described.](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/student_work_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/louise_black_image_9_0.jpg?itok=YjmkkwdY)
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