Laura Eldret
Close (enough) #P
Close (enough) is a new body of work by Laura Eldret that reflects on the physicality of familial life and wider notions of intimacy, togetherness, need and care. Generated from interviews with mothers, the work explores these concerns in an era of increased physical distance and isolation.
Consisting of a fabric hanging, a video work and a print edition, Close (enough) centres on a new linear pattern that invokes boundaries of touch, pleasure and pain. The video is an intense collage of interview extracts, offset against visual imagery of a mirror ball, glassware display, patterns and text.
To create the work, Eldret uses ethnographic processes and also draw on her own experience as a mother.
Close (Enough), 2020
Fabric on dye
200 x 150 cm
Edition of 12 prints
Digital print hand finished with ink on acid free 200gsm paper
42 x 29 cm
“ The pattern is a stripe, lines describing boundaries, boundaries of bodies but also a junction, not just a single point but a line of connection. A repetitive familiar stripe interrupted with nudges, pulls, elbows and mouths …”
Eldret’s work explores the social agency of art and aesthetic elements that bind people. Her practice uses processes of social engagement, anthropology and documentary. Fabric is a reoccurring form in her practice, she is interested in its social characteristics, its ability to wrap, comfort, soften, shield, conceal and display. She also frequently works with video to create works that engage in ethnographic processes such as interviews, observation, participation and reimagining.
The work is part of the Procreate Project commission 2020 round supported by Arts Council Emergency Response funds.