From 6 November 2014 to 4 January 2015, Chapter House Lane presents a solo exhibition by Deb Mansfield. Join us for opening drinks on Thursday, 6 November.

Deb Mansfield’s ‘Softening (or break the legs of what I want to happen)‘  looks at the spatial instability of littoral zones and island crossings. The works in ‘Softening (or break the legs of what I want to happen)’ are photo-tapestries, mechanically woven from images of the ocean; the Bay of Fires (Tasmania) and The Breakwater (Newcastle).

The photo-tapestry originates from a low-resolution digital image (scanned from negatives) and is machine-woven. This process brings together multiple forms: the negative, the digital image, textiles and the machine. The work is all of these things, while being singularly none of them. Similarly, littoral zones – although formed by both land and sea – remain outside these geographies in a space of in-between.

Mansfield’s research is based upon littoral spaces and she has visited sites including Moreton Bay (Queensland), the Mississippi River Delta (Louisiana), Kleinmond (South Africa), the Tamar Valley (Launceston), and McIvers, Newfoundland (Canada).

Deb Mansfield has completed several artist residencies both locally and abroad (Cataract Gorge: Launceston, Full Tilt Newfoundland, Artisan: Brisbane) has received several awards and public art commissions (Australia Council of the Arts, COFA Travel Grant, APA Research Scholarship, Siganto Travel Scholarship, Aged Care Capital Works Queensland Health: Wondai and Redlands, Museum of Brisbane: Wild Suburbia and Silver) and has exhibited consistently since 2000.

She has worked as a lecturer in Photomedia at the Queensland College of Art (GU), The University of Technology Sydney (UTS), The College of Fine Arts (UNSW) and currently lives in Newcastle, where she works as an Associate Lecturer at the University of Newcastle.

To see Deb Mansfield’s CV, click here.