Loose Ends is a group exhibition which will bring together ten artists working across ceramics, textiles and performance.

The exhibition will present a range of sculptures, performances and surface works which explore connections and the interwoven poetics of material and the body. Within the gallery these works will inhabit the floor and walls.

Exhibiting artists: Abigail Brothers, Joshua Clague, Hoa Dung Clerget, Lily German, Elena Gileva, Laura Porter, Paloma Proudfoot, Alex Simpson, Holly Stevenson and Melania Toma.

Clay coils are rolled and pressed together. Hands slide past one another; materials slip off fingertips as loose ends collect and are scattered on the floor beneath. The act of making and touch are preserved in the ceramic form and present between each taut thread. Touch solidified within the material. There is inherent proximity to the body in textiles through the everyday encounters of fibre we experience. Woven fibres are held, stretched, pushed and scraped against one another with flexing fingers. Everyday materials are manipulated and transformed into sculpture.

A programme of events and performance will be presented at moments throughout the duration of the exhibition. These bursts of activity of outstretched bodies and voice will begin a conversation between the works in the gallery.

Curated by Lily German.

Free Programme of Events:

• Workshop: Threading Memory with Silkworm Collective - Friday 1st March, 12-3pm. Free, all welcome.
  The ‘threading memory’ workshop will be an exercise in collective embroidery, focusing on the meditative power of stitch. When we stitch together, our hands occupied and our concentration focused on the needle, the presence of others nevertheless keeps us present in the moment. Through the repetitive calmness of the action, we can talk and reflect as perhaps we wouldn’t otherwise. The collaboration on one stretch of cloth will form a material landscape of different stories, whilst conjuring conversations and connections through the act of remembering.
  
  
• Artist Talk and Walk - Thursday 7th March, 1.30pm. Free, all welcome.
  A walk around the group exhibition Loose Ends with artist Holly Stevenson.
  
  
• Workshop: Communal Unmaking - Saturday 9th March, throughout opening hours, 12-5pm. Free, all welcome.
  Grounded in a craft and textiles practice, Laura Porter’s work consists of the systematic breaking down of old garments into small fibres, which she then reforms into a solid substance. In this communal unmaking session, you are invited to join the artist and unpick, cut up, shred, dismantle, and break down clothing items in a slow, methodic and meditative act; thinking about how our bodies can undertake small, insignificant actions and movements to repurpose and reimagine our material experiences. Feel free to bring your own old clothes. Led by the artist. Drop in any time.
  
  
• Rehearsal Lily German - Sunday 10th March, 12-2pm. Free, all welcome.
  Artist Lily German gives time to workshopping and rehearsing new wet clay and vocal performance in Thames-Side Studios Gallery. Informed by research surrounding collective mourning and exploring the contemporary experience of grief. You are welcome to come and see the rehearsal and approaches to mourning as a group through voice and wet clay. This event will be filmed for research and development purposes.
  
  
  
  Thames-Side Studios Gallery
  Thames-Side Studios
  Harrington Way, Warspite Road
  Royal Borough of Greenwich
  London SE18 5NR
  
  
  Thames-Side Studios Gallery open Thursday-Sunday 12-5pm during exhibitions and by appointment. For general Thames-Side Studios Gallery enquiries please email [email protected]