About - Gravity - Metamorphosis to Grids and Onwards

In brief

Explorations of gravity, space, and materials, where movement, duration, and process leave visible traces. Works emerge through experiment, observation, and material choices, shifting between structured forms and open, responsive outcomes.

Context:

The apple refused to rot, Winter didn’t help, and I suspect the apple had been coated in some preservative, but I waited anyway, long enough to wonder whether my patience was admirable or just mildly daft. I moved on to other fruit, implementing additional trial pieces so the work could continue. The experiments were inspired by Kafka’s Metamorphosis, which became a creative impetus for the work. In the story, Gregor wakes to find he has morphed from human into insect, and later an apple is thrown at him by his father, embeds in his back and begins to rot, a moment that drew my attention to the trajectory of objects, gravity, and the traces left behind. That series of experiments became a substantial body of work exploring gravity, materials, and time, where processes themselves acted as collaborators in making form visible.

Apples and other fruit decayed, some between layers of light fabric fixed vertically to the wall, sliding downward as they rotted and leaving traces across surfaces. The material stained and recorded its own passage, and work emerged through process rather than representation. It was a way of observing movement, duration, and gravity to inscribe themselves, and for me to understand more how actions occupy and divide space.

From this grew a sustained exploration of gravity as an active force. I became increasingly interested in how three-dimensional forms could make movement and duration visible, and how space could be structured, manipulated, and translated onto the flat surface. This interest had led me to push for a year in the sculpture department of a painting course even though it wasn’t formally permitted. Working in three dimensions deepened my grasp of form and material behaviour in ways painting alone could not. The year was pivotal, expanding my thinking while reinforcing my commitment to painting. Returning to the painting department was a deliberate choice, informed by a richer understanding of form, space, and material possibilities.

I produced suspended rectangular works, drawing on skills and techniques developed in the sculpture workshop while pursuing intensive explorations in my own studio, creating forms that investigated weight, balance, and controlled release. These pieces existed primarily as actions rather than objects, emphasising duration and the moment of release, and further sharpened my understanding of space, structure, and trajectory.

Throughout this period and beyond, materials and techniques found their place in the work as they arose, with each choice shaping what came next. Having worked across textiles, drawing, paint, and found objects, my practice has been shaped by a responsive dialogue between materials and ideas, each informing and shaping the other as the work develops.

The gravity-based drawings led naturally to grid-like structures, which allowed me to organise space and register movement on the flat surface. These structures were provisional, tools for thinking rather than fixed outcomes, and over time the work opened out again, becoming freer and more responsive while retaining the lessons learned from structure, gravity, and material exploration

Through all these shifts, the work unfolded through process, curiosity, and attentiveness, each stage emerging naturally from the work itself. Even when experiments are prolonged (or even slightly absurd, like waiting for a stubborn apple to rot), I go with it as they represent the serious engagement, rigorous observation, and commitment that informs my practice.

Metamorphosis - Trials - Linda Sgoluppi

Linda Sgoluppi Art