Double Vision

As artists both Willie Heron and Sally Houston share a common way of working which gives importance to materials and process. They both use a playful approach, have a disrespect for conventional use of materials and engage deeply with three-dimensional form. Their sculptures conventionally are about three dimensional space, and are not conceptual. This is where their affinity lies.

Their use of materials of little value; cardboard, scrap wood and found objects, reflects a culture which is becoming increasingly prevalent in the struggle to end the wastage of the planet's natural resources. Reusing rather than recycling, the work seeks to give new meaning to the materials we have around us, transforming them in our imagination into objects with a life of their own.

About the Artists

Before the pandemic, Willie Heron was a regular student at Belfast MET, casting at the bronze foundry. The technique he used, the lost wax process, worked well when he made the original sculptures in cardboard. This was burnt out during the mould making, prior to casting in bronze. When lockdown happened and the foundry closed Willie continued to create works in cardboard in the studio, then began to add white gesso and colour as well as exploring the cardboard's torn texture.

His approach to his work is founded on an exploration of materials which he often assembles in a playful manner. Images are suggested but the work remains entirely abstract.

Sally Houston's work is driven by the physical process of making. Rather than bring an idea to fulfilment, she wants to see what happens when materials are manipulated in exploration of a subject. She experiments with weight, balance and gravity, constructing in sympathy with the material's innate qualities. She prefers to use everyday materials so she can feel free to make mistakes.

Following a trip to the Aran Islands her work has been referencing the geology of coastlines, without any attempt at representation. She is interested in the energy embodied in cliffs, shaped by the energy of the sea. The enormity of geological forces; displacement, compression and upheaval, are the background to her decision making. The crumbling strata of a coast suggests vulnerability and danger, the broken edge of the land where humanity clings on barely surviving.