inside

Butterflies in the Stomach 2008
Caul fat and plastic
Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva

"On her arrival in Valenciennes for the residency Elpida used her usual and highly successful approach of investigating the local history, including both the town and Le Nord Pas de Calais. She is interested in the special, or uniqueness of a place, and discovering Valenciennes lace industry was an ideal start. The intricate and slow production methods of traditional lace making, resonate well with Elpida’s previous work where laborious and skilful work is required to make a piece of art. By borrowing, re-working and repeating designs donated by the ladies of the Dentelle de Valenciennes, there is a real connection between the historic lace making and the new works Elpida has made for this exhibition. Typically, Elpida has also investigated the local food specialities, and became fascinated with the types of meat eaten in France. Here then she can bring together surprising cohabitants: Lace and Offal. Bringing these two diverse practices together is typical of Elpida’s work. Here she has made different shapes and structures, reflecting lace making (and just as intricate), but produced out of Tripe, Caul Fat, Intestines or Omasum. This device of using different materials to that which is expected, encourages a sense of experimentation, a challenge to the orthodox and, strangely, a celebration of craft.

Visitors can journey through a tunnel of Caul fat, coming to an inaccessible exit, requiring them to turn around to repeat the journey and leave. Once again, Elpida is aiming to make the hidden visible, encouraging a sensitive appreciation of a particular place, but acknowledging both skill and craft which is less appreciated in the fast food, mass produced, consumer focused society of the 21st Century."
- Mark Segal, November 2007

(detail)