At the conclusion of her three-week residency in the Visual Arts department at West Dean, Anne Alldread staged an exhibition of the exploratory work produced during her visit to the college, as well as supplementary material in the form of texts, research notes and a slide show of images. An audience that included college staff and current students across various disciplines, spent a period of time with the installed pieces before engaging Anne in a vibrant discussion about her working process, use of materials and her particular relationship to the space of the Sussex Barn Auditorium.The collection of sculptural assemblages made connections to much of Anne's previous output in more or less explicit ways. Her re-use of furniture and architecture - trestles and window frames - combined with deliberate nods to the technologies and accoutrements of tapestry weaving: manipulated yarn racks, their metal rods expressively articulated into crisp right-angles and sight lines moving around the room. These elements combined with other found materials - heavier metal rods and lengths of copper piping, metal grilles and mineral deposits - as well as targetted interventions of the artist's hand: flashes of delicate weaving linking up wooden frames, filling grids with colour, draping forms made out of handmade felt.We are grateful to Anne for spending time engaging with students in both discussions and workshops feel that the residency was of great benefit to all involved.
