This exhibition is a conceptual installation based on the decorative tradition of women’s expression (particularly domestic responsibilities) in historical New Zealand.
Monique Redmond graduated from Elam School of Fine Art in 1991, with a bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture. Using a conceptual art framework, domestic aesthetic and producing well finished works, Redmond has exhibited at the C.S. A. Gallery Christchurch, A.S.A. Auckland, Wellington City Art Gallery, Artspace Auckland and various dealer galleries. She currently works as a half time lecturer in sculpture at the Auckland Society of Arts.
Redmond uses nineteenth and early twentieth century material from decorative sources (William Morris) and women artists (Francis Hodgkins, Katherine Mansfield and Lady Barker), to explore the idea of post-modern sculpture.
The resulting works use traditional materials like quilting and embroidery, and re-constructed objects like oven mitts, ironing boards and other domestic tools. From the domestic, polished conceptual artworks are created.
For Adam was no fool, Redmond is using another domestic format, the embroidered stool. Traditionally embroidered stools were produced as objects of devotion, the seat being embroidered during the evening by women and as vehicles for instruction for their daughters. As with her Ironing Board series, the furniture items are rebuilt to a different scale and finished to the best craftsperson-like standard. Each design for the embroidered tops is drawn from a specific source and presented with polish and humour. This installation is being made specifically for the Fisher Gallery Studio space.
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→ Monique Redmond: Adam was no fool, 1994, publication