Victoria Rance

Description

The line as indicator of volume, of direction, and of expression is integral to Victoria Rance's sculpture. She uses it in two dimensions and, as here, in three dimensions. The galvanised rods which describe the volume of Shelter like the ribs of a cage are spaced regularly in a circle with a gap in their formation for an entrance. They are gathered together at the top and tied like an inverted bunch of reeds, giving the effect of a teepee without its skin.

The scale of Shelter is human. A person of average size may step inside, more could sit within. In a sense the sculpture is complete only when people are present. It is certainly a work to be experienced from within as well as from the outside. When one observes Shelter from a little distance, either facing the entrance or diametrically opposite it, the rods appear to be more closely aligned towards the outer edges of the cone-like form. This makes the sculpture appear to be shaded, as though a darker tone has been introduced to emphasise its roundness - a trick of the eye which gives an added dimension to a simple but engaging structure. Victoria Rance has used the same materials and similar mathematical devices - the circle and regular divisions - as with Ark 1997 which was shown at Goodwood in 1998. Her aims are still to produce simple pieces with a human dimension which offer the possibility for protection, such as Henry Moore achieved with his sculptures on the theme of Mother and Child, and indeed his series of drawings of people sheltering in the London Underground during the Second World War.