yvonne pethullis
from nothing, something
Creatio ex Nihilo 2025
Found Metal
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These vessels made from found metal have been kiln heated and moulded, through the process the pieces have gained a new identity while retaining their decay and decomposition. The rust has remained and the strength of the metal now holds a fragility and vulnerability that is ephemeral and sublime.
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Each piece reflects its own time and shaping them into bowls symbolises the storage of the memories that they hold through their previous history.
Pain Attention 2025
Graphite pencil on cardboard packaging
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The process of collecting is integral to my process of making. Here a months’ worth of small cardboard packaging containing prescription medicine relays a reference to time and daily routine.
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The graphite pencil covered boxes show the subtle changes in the metallic faces of the packaging, They present a strong and precise structural composition and the exact placement adds to the methodical nature of the context. The repeated boxes allude to the march of time and habitual routine. Therefore, through repetition we recognise the repetition.
'....that which is repeated has been – otherwise it would not be repeated – but the very fact that it has been makes the repetition something new.' (Kierkegaard n.d.)
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​Kierkegaard, S. (1843). Repetition: A Venture in Experimenting Psychology by Constantin Constantius. SØren Kierkegaard; Kierkegaard's Writings. Ed. Edna H. (online) Available at: https://sorenkierkegaard.nl/artikelen/Engels/035.%20Kierkegaards%20repetition%20as%20a%20comedy.pdf
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The Fold Triptych 2025
Shredded Paper & Graphite Pencil
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Most domestic settings contain paper or cardboard in a multitude of different guises from cleaning and hygiene to books and packaging. We are knee deep in paper and cardboard as we purchase more online.
As we push these paper packaging items into the recycling bin we rarely notice the amazing structures these pieces of innocuous paper/cardboard carry.
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Deleuze talks about the various forces that affect matter, he describes these characteristics as folds which are part of a labyrinthine structure, an ontological element where the folding and unfolding is a continuous curve - the 'pleats in the matter and the folds in the soul.'
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