Wool and cotton, 97 x 91cm

Shown as part of Living Grid II at the VCA Grad Show 2023, this artwork continues Britt’s investigation of how a rigid structure such as the grid can be “turned.” To turn is to shift ones position or find a new perspective. The grid is a structure that is embedded in the organisation of our cities, it can contain, restrain or train us to move and interact in particular ways. To turn the grid involves opening it up and finding new possibilities for this structure without compromising its more positive aspects of order. After all, the grid can be a very useful tool. Set against an undulating background of woven terrain, Grid II sugests that a grid can operate even if it is only visually perceived. The black vertical threads of Grid II would usually be part of the warp threads, the structural integrity of the tapestry, instead they are sat atop and are part of the visual surface of the work only. As these threads cross the black horizontal lines embedded in the tapestry, they create a grid. Visually, it is unmistakably solid. Yet the vertical lines are floating, much like the undulating terrain of the tapestry background.