Vivienne Roberts Projects is delighted to present Ends and Odds and Fleeting Moments, an exhibition featuring the cloth paintings of Mary Norden and the mobiles sculptures of Marie-Thérèse Ross. Through their shared use of found and discarded materials, both artists explore themes of impermanence, transformation, and the fleeting nature of time.
The title of the exhibition draws attention to the materials at its heart—scraps, fragments, and remnants abandoned as new creations emerge. While the work acknowledges the discarded, it resists ideas of reclamation or renewal, instead reflecting the ephemeral nature of existence.
This exploration of transience echoes the groundbreaking approach of Robert Rauschenberg’s Combines, which blurred the boundaries between painting and sculpture by incorporating everyday objects. In this spirit, Norden and Ross use found materials to transcend their original purposes, transforming them into profound expressions of fragility, vitality, and transformation.
Mary Norden’s poetic approach to her work is central to understanding her practice. Having transitioned from a successful career in textile design to focus solely on fine art, she now works with vintage rags and fabric scraps—materials that have outlived their original function. Strips of cloth, worn and faded, are transformed into paintings that evoke distant landscapes and fleeting moments. With muted colours and smooth or woven textures, Norden’s work invites quiet contemplation, revealing layers of meaning upon closer inspection. Her pieces, much like Rothko’s colour fields, capture intangible memories and sensations, suspending time within their subtle, meditative compositions.
Marie-Thérèse Ross crafts sculptures from found wood scraps, creating mobiles, wall pieces, and free-standing works imbued with dark humour and pathos. Stolen from Samuel Beckett’s title Ends and Odds, her abstract yet recognisable figures evoke a theatre of personal mythology. These articulated and fragile forms radiate energy and tension, blending surreal exaggeration with a tender intimacy akin to Paul Klee’s puppets. Ross’s work transcends specific narratives, speaking instead to universal themes of fragility, defiance, and transformation.
Together, Norden and Ross explore the interplay between material and meaning, creating works that transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Ends and Odds and Fleeting Moments invites viewers to pause, reflect, and engage with art that captures the beauty and complexity of life’s transience.
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