d e b o r a h
g a r d e n e r
Conduction.
Propogate.
Signalling Cascade.


These works consider uncertainty and flux between process and outcome, employing repeated sculptural modes of making to perplex set categories of art disciplines and their material form. Networks, overlaps and connectives are structural devices, which are inspired by such things as the study of plant growth structures, energy conductive systems and chemical reactive pathways in biological cells. Repetition is a key method employed in the making, firstly to create complexity, but also to initiate a systematic approach to process and organisation, where both material and colour have a physical or compositional role in determining the final systems and structures. The exploration of pattern making through repetition is also a source for spontaneous and fluid movement in space, which breaks away from rigid underpinning. Often used as a creative device in art and design, repetition creates texture, which brings multiple individual units together in relation to one another. The interplay between the elements is crucial in making the artwork more active, creating a sense of cohesion within it. Repetition allows parts of the artwork to match with one another and form a complex interplay of elements. Most importantly of all, the use of repetition allows an opportunity to experience the structure as a continuously evolving, live and active situation. Repetition allows a sense of open-endedness and rhythm, which is open to flaws. Vital to the work is the employment of repurposed materials, which prompt and guide the process and sets out parameters for the structural process. Most of the materials used in these works are repurposed allowing the generative power of materials to create new meanings. Colour is pivotal and often adds an unspecified or more frantic element to the narrative of these works. ‘Conduction’ (2023) is inspired by observing a small tree on a daily winter walk. The bright red berries dotted across dark, bare branches indicated an internal vibrancy within a semi dormant organism, which conserves energy, yet still produces fruit in winter. ‘Propagate’ (2023) is inspired by such things as trailing branches of trees and abundant fruiting forms. The work points to garlands, ceremonial objects and explores how the accumulation of repeated units allows a thickening of form, which indicates a sense of evolving form. ‘Signalling Cascade’ (2023) refers to a biological term of a pathway of enzymic reactions which convert the inactive to active and, consequently, stimulate, transmit and receive information in cells to form an interconnected communication. The discarded remnants of an electrician’s wiring job were reclaimed to initiate the infrastructure for these works, the highly conductive properties of electric copper wire points to a charge of energy throughout a network, its ductile property valued in wiring mechanisms for its flexibility without the loss of strength in transmitting power. A connection is made between the electrical networks of human architectural spaces, biological cellular change and the distribution of energy in living species.