Naseem Darbey- textile shadow sculpture preview at the Bowes Museum

Last week, whilst my computer was away for repair, I visited Bowes Museum for a preview of 'Between the Lines'.

Naseem is a textile artist who trained in Bradford. She uses a  sewing machine, thread and water soluble film to produce the images she initially created in her sketchbook as lovely three D sculptures.

Using phrases from letters, written in french, by Mary Louise Roosevelt Burke Butterfield to her husband Henry Isaac Butterfield Naseem has created six beautiful black 3D lace sculptures. Four are recreations of garments of the period (nineteenth century). There is a black lace christening dress (Mary writes of her confinement), a pair of black lace gloves (Mary asks her husband to bring her gloves, when he joins her in Paris), an amazing recreation of an embroidered gown bodice (that is supposed to heve been worn by Mary) and a beautiful lace representation of the actual words taken from Mary's letters on a camisole. There is also a machine lace tiara. All these larger than life representations are hung in a darkened gallery and the spotlights that highlight them create shadows on the wall behind the black 'shadow'textile sculpture/drawings.

The last sculpture is a heart, lit with a red light from within and impaled on it's plinth.  This represents Mary's request that her husband should come and visit her if "your heart is not nailed to Cliffe Hall"

For me this exhibition was a great success.

Beautiful nineteenth century lacework and clothing is something I love (see vintage project). I am intrigued by the relationships of nineteenth century people (especially it's artists-see dissertation on Rossetti) .  I love history and the primary resources that still remain  (like these beautiful copperplate laetters). I am fascinated by the idea of unrequited and romantic love (a la Wuthering Heights) and romantic . I love the colour black, especially contrasted with white, as well as light and shadow. I understand the concept of a heart being attached to a beautiful building (my own was to my old house) Lastly,I find black gothic fashion very beautiful.

Naseem was present at the preview and was kind enough to find time to speak to me about her work. She is a very enthusiastic young artist who deserved the accolades she was given that evening.

The exhibition (20th August-20th November) is well worth a visit, being a small but perfectly presented/ display of  beautiful sculptures embued with many layers of meaning and guarenteed to impress by it's workmanhip alone, if nothing else.

PS The museum tea shop serves very good food and Barnard Castle is full of antique and junk shops!!!!