Clare Twomey
Specimen, 2009. Unfired china clay
Created especially for this exhibition, Specimen is, in the artist’s words, ‘beautiful and yet uncomfortable by its intention’. These unfired clay flowers are both natural and unnatural: their scale, weight, material and colour are unfamiliar, but their beguiling quality and fragility are recognisable. The flowers in the cabinet are protected from the environment; those strewn about the floor and on the mantelpiece are subject to the impact of visitors to the gallery, highlighting the damaging effects of our curiosity.
