Katie Cuddon (born 1979, London, UK) is an artist best known for working with clay. Expressive and instinctive, her sculpture explores psychological representations of the human body and the interpenetration of art and life.
Pummelled and masticated clay is worked into a tensile skin, creating forms that are simultaneously anthropomorphic, symbolic, and surreal. Once fired these sculptures are combined with other materials and found objects and enter our space on supports, both found and constructed.
Presenting a series of new works made by Cuddon since becoming a mother in 2018, the exhibition is conceived as an intimate and visceral environment in which unsettling imaginings play out. The title, Night Portraits comes from a group of small works within the exhibition. Here the clay has been intensely worked. It is inscribed with the artist’s teeth, and, exuding candle wax, conjures up the dreamlike quality of the exhibition space. Like Cuddon’s sculptures generally, the works in the exhibition resist a straightforward narrative reading but rather take the viewer on a restless journey of association between our inner and outer worlds.
Created by Cuddon throughout the pandemic, several works dwell on her experiences of isolation within domestic spaces, and the tensions that exist between the internal, intimate sphere of the home, and the hostile threats presented by the outside world and its relentless stream of dark news. This discomfort manifests in the visual quality of the works, with their indentations, holes, and hollow surfaces.
Night Portraits draws upon Cuddon’s recent research into the relationships between clay, writing, death, and the body. This work is pursued with fellowships and research grants from the Leverhulme Trust and Wellcome Trust.
A free booklet is available to accompany the exhibition, featuring a new text by Head of Exhibitions, Joseph Constable.
IN THE PRESS
Lead image caption: Katie Cuddon, Mother and Baby, 2020, chair, painted ceramic, blanket and hospital strap. Photo: Amy Petra Woodward. Courtesy of the artist.
Katie Cuddon studied at Glasgow School of Art and then The Royal College of Art before becoming a Lipman Research Fellow in Ceramic Sculpture at Newcastle University. This was followed by a Sainsbury Scholarship in Sculpture and Drawing at the British School at Rome and the inaugural Ceramics Fellowship at Camden Art Centre. Katie’s solo exhibitions include Spanish Lobe, Camden Arts Centre (2011) and Pontoon Lip, a collaborative exhibition with Celia Hempton at Cell Projects (2014). Her work has been acquired by numerous private collections and the Arts Council of England Collection and was recently on show in the ACE Touring exhibition, Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women Since 1945 which opened at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in May 2021 and has since travelled to Lakeside Arts, University of Nottingham; The Lewinsky Gallery and The Box, Plymouth; Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; and the New Art Gallery, Walsall.
EXHIBITION RESOURCES
There are plenty of welcoming and good value B&Bs & boutique hotels in Bexhill. The De La Warr Pavilion regularly uses the following :
- By Rail
Direct trains go from London Victoria, Brighton and Ashford to Bexhill.
There are also trains from London Charing Cross, changing at St. Leonards Warrior Square and from London Bridge or Charing Cross going to Battle. Battle is only a short taxi journey away (15 mins approx).
Visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for up-to-date train travel information. - Taxis
Town Taxis: 01424 211 511
Parkhurst Taxis: 01424 733 456 - By Car
If driving from the London area:
Take the M25, then A21 to Hastings. Turn off at John‘s Cross and follow the signs to Bexhill.
OR
Take the A22 to Eastbourne, go across the Bishop roundabout to the A271 and follow the signs to Bexhill and the seafront. The De La Warr Pavilion is on the Marina.
From the Brighton area:
Follow the A27 out of Brighton until you arrive in Bexhill On Sea. - Parking
Please be aware the Rother District car park outside the De La Warr Pavilion operates paid parking until 7pm. After this time parking is free. There is also lmiited free car parking along the seafront.
Within the limits of this Grade One listed building, the De La Warr Pavilion strives to be fully accessible with a range of facilities to support your visit.
Assistance Dogs are permitted into the building.
Please contact the Box Office on 01424 229 111 to arrange a visit.
Facilities for disabled visitors
- Ramped access at the front of the building
- A low counter at the Box Office and Information Desk
- Disabled toilets on two floors
- A lift to all floors
- Accessible galleries on both floors
- An accessible Café
- Spaces for wheelchairs in the auditorium for seated events
- Ramped access in the auditorium for events during the day
- Ramped access into the Studio
- Two travel wheelchairs are available for use at the De La Warr Pavilion. To reserve, please call our box office and information desk on (01424) 229111 or ask a member of staff on arrival. The chairs are provided on a first come, first served basis and are intended for use inside the Pavilion. Please contact us for more information.
Facilities for blind or visually-impaired
- Large print season brochures
Facilities for the hard-of-hearing
- An T-Switch induction loop in some areas of the auditorium (please indicate when booking as this facility is not available on the balcony)
- British Sign Language interpretation tours of the building and exhibitions are available on request.