When we met Sally in preparation for her first solo show with Duckett and Jeffreys Stef spent time with her probing and questioning. It is interesting to see how many of these ideas are still relevant isn Sally's work today and how they have developed over the past 4 years
Your mouths come over as being very noisy, are you a talker or a listener?
Predominantly a listener and an observer. I feel it can get dangerous if you start to like the sound of your own voice too much.
Does drawing through your ideas create solutions or problems?
Both. I certainly draw to wrestle with ideas, problems and anxieties, and for me it’s an essential part of understanding and making sense of the world around me.
The triangle is a recurring motif in your work, what is its origin?
Formally its origin is rooted in the geometric shapes in work I admire by the likes of Ben Nicholson, Sandra Blow and Ellsworth Kelly. Conceptually it’s rooted in writing by Louise Bourgeois stating that triangles mean trouble.
How does repetition develop your understanding of the hold certain ideas have on you?
Drawing for me is an obsessive process in terms of the ideas I focus on, it is ritualistic and, therefore, repetition is an essential part of the process.
Drawing is a very primal, powerful and immediate action, has there ever been a point when your drawing has kicked back and set the hairs on your arms tingling?
Always. Drawing cannot be controlled - it will always kick back. It is a life-force in its own right and demands authenticity and integrity.
Fellini is quoted as saying, “ I make myself available to ideas as they happen.” How do you keep an open mind to occurring ideas throughout the process of your work.
Keeping an open mind to ideas is imperative to move work along. I love it when new ideas suggest themselves and filter through. Certain variables are important - for example I aim for a balance between controlling certain aspects of my prcatice - such as limited materials, the constraints of a piece of paper or canvas and certain motifs and then I allow free reign to other elements to suggest new directions.
In talking about her work, Louise Bourgeois states, “ all my sculptures are portraits of relationships between me and another person.” Are your works specific portraits, or suggestive of a more generalised figure?
Suggestive of a more generalised figure. Drawings come from direct experience - in an attempt to understand and find my place in the world around me - but they are not literal interpretations of specific conversations overheard. They are an erruption of feelings that emerge from life experiences.
Your triangles look like they have tumbled out of a 1950s candy jar, what informs your choice of colour?
1950s colour palettes are a part of my thinking. I love working with fragments of colour on a very neutral background.
