about

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Marie-Thérèse Ross' work is deeply personal as it seeks to expresses human vulnerability, as she explores the hidden workings of the mind, focussing on states of physical, emotional and psychological transformation. These transformations can occur naturally, as well as those impacted by the nature of the outside world and its effect on our personal inner psyche. Her work appears humorous as well as darkly subversive, whilst obscuring herself as the artist. She seeks to both reveal and hide awkward personal experiences including childhood memories, episodes that reflect on her own sense of vulnerability and mortality.  

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She creates immersive installations with sculptures of corvid birds and broken up figures that inhabit and animate furniture.  These incorporate specially commissioned music. The birds are disruptive and chaotic, representing the exterior world, whereas the anthropomorphic furniture seems to move silently, reflecting the more vulnerable and fragile inner core. By focusing on the personal interior versus the outside world, Ross tackles themes and ideas that include feminism, mortality and the human condition.  

 

"Painted in black and eschewing naturalism and detailing, they are described by Ross not as sculptures of the birds, but sculptures of their shadows. Crafted in wood and recycled timber, they give weight and permanence to the fleeting nature of their subject." (Aliki Braine: Writing without words)

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Her sculptures are born out of destruction, using reclaimed wood and found objects that have been discarded by others. Elements or the whole sculpture can be broken or literally smashed and then rebuilt, the process repeated until the required tension is achieved. Sculptures are made of a combination of carved & laminated upcycled wood parts, as well as found objects which are integrated & sublimated into the works & painted. Dowels and screws join and secure pieces together, often left exposed rather than smoothed away and hidden. The mass of wood echoes the drawn & cut-out lines found in her drawings and collages.  

 

A recent residency on Eilean Shona, an isolated Scottish Island, represented a new challenge to the artist, where she sought to address her new environment with its temperate rain forest, beaches and pine forests. She worked outdoors in the landscape making site specific sculptures and wood block prints. She also made small wall-based sculptures using found materials including bark, lichens and seaweed, as well as producing over 100 drawings and watercolours.  The experience has left a lasting impact on her practice

 

​Marie-Thérèse Ross MRSS is a member of The Royal Society of Sculptors. She is an Art Gemini Prize winner (2021). Her work has been exhibited at the Royal Cambrian Academy, and the Elysium Gallery in Wales. The Stone Space, APT Deptford, and in 2022 she was commissioned by Camden to design posters for newly restored Swiss Cottage Library.

 

Ross was awarded a First Class BA hons in painting from Loughborough College of Art and Design, she went onto to study sculpture in Germany for a year at Karlsruhe Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste with the British sculptor Michael Sandle RA. She studied sculpture for her MA at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. 

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