"Materials are the basis for my work that can be 2 or 3 dimensional, using layering, bending or folding, to determine the shape to emphasise a corner or to remake one. The work can cling to the wall or spring away or the structure of a piece is created by the tension of the fixing points."
Lesley Foxcroft uses simple and everyday materials for her works, with them being made up of MDF, galvanized metal and copper, the latter a new element in Foxcroft's oeuvre. Her choice of materials carries with it a deliberate honesty, like Brutalist architecture, which insists on leaving materials exposed and unadorned, their nature made visible rather than concealed. The surfaces of MDF sit in juxtaposition with the harder qualities of galvanized metal and copper, each making the other more apparent. The use of these simple materials, with their absence of colour, diminishes interpretative interference for the viewer, allowing form to take precedence.
The works can be understood as drawings in space, the line of MDF or metal in place of a pencil line, tracing the edges and corners of the room. Most pieces are comprised of thin layers flexible enough to bend, fold, wrap and layer, transforming into the required shape. All the materials, as Foxcroft has noted, "have to be of a certain density, in that they need to be bendable to some extent, sometimes easily, but often with a good deal of pressure." The folds, creases and knots of the works carry the evidence of this process. The process is one of both intention and chance. "I know what shape I need and how the piece is bent, folded or stuck," Foxcroft has said, "but occasionally a shape happens by accident, sometimes a lucky one."
By methods of folding, cutting, pressing and stacking, Foxcroft's sculptures unfurl from the wall or corner of the room, arranging material on the floor and up walls, creating a dialogue between the two. One of the works in the exhibition sees a sculpture pull away from the wall and descend onto the floor, held in place by the tension of its own structure. The sculptural forms are thus rooted in the environments they find themselves in, responding to corners, ceilings and floors. For Foxcroft, "the architecture of the building where the work is to be shown can become a catalyst to enhance a piece or initiate an idea."
This exhibition is Lesley Foxcroft's fifth solo exhibition with Annely Juda Fine Art, and her first in the gallery's new Hanover Square space. She has been represented by the gallery since 2004. Born in 1949 in Sheffield, Lesley Foxcroft studied at the Camberwell School of Art in London from 1970 to 1974. She lives and works in London.