Visit to Gallery Oldham 09/02/12

Chameleons & Shape Shifters II
Michael Shaw

On arrival at the middle glass-walled gallery curator Shaun Baggaley introduced us to the artist who had created these sculptures, Michael Shaw, who stayed with us during the duration of our visit which was a great treat.
The first item we looked at was the huge inflatable which took up the whole of the space of the gallery and was suspended from the lighting gantries so it moved freely when touched. The sculpture looks like a pair of lips or maybe a doughnut in bright orange and a long snake-like dark blue tube entwined itself around the outside and finally through a central aperture like a snake's head. The air was pumped in by a fan and because the sculpture was created from material used in parachutes and stitched together the air escaped slowly, creating what could almost have been a living, breathing thing.
Michael Shaw had created the sculpture with the aid of computer 3D software and this he also used for the other shapes displayed in the gallery. One of the materials was a plastic acrylic; one surface fragmented and the other smooth, and these had been vacuum pressed onto the mould and then sealed onto a stainless steel base to enable it to be fixed to any surface for display.
There were a number of shapes which had been lighted creating a sense of movement as the fragmented surfaces reflected the lights of the spectrum. Another set of three different shapes were smooth and merely reflected the light as it changed during the day when both dull and sunny.
Ann Hornsby gave us an inspirational description of all of the sculptures we looked at and must have spent a great deal of time researching the exhibition in order to portray the images created by the artist.
We had an opportunity to look at each item closely before we adjourned to the education suite where Dinah Winch and another member of staff were waiting to give us hot drinks and biscuits. It had been a tad chilly in the gallery due to the glass walls and we all clasped our drinks to our bosoms in order to thaw out!
Michael Shaw joined us again in the education suite and gave us the opportunity to handle some of the prototypes of his work in progress and it was fascinating to learn how these forms could be created with the use of computer software.
As well as a water-based and a powder-based sculpture we were able to handle some fragmented acrylic shapes and a number of the ladies in the group said they would love to have one of these as a lampshade cover on their wall. It was fascinating to realise how today's artists were able to avail themselves of new technology and materials to create beautiful, tactile and pleasing shapes.

Many thanks to Michael, Shaun, and Dinah for helping us to enjoy the handling session and to Ann for bringing the items to life with her descriptions. Mary as usual had done her sterling job of gathering together her willing volunteers to take us to and from the gallery. Many thanks to everybody involved for giving us a remarkable day out.