Anna Barriball
Sculpture show from the Plymouth-born artist contains a relaxed humour
There’s a certain fascination in concealment within the work of Plymouth-born Anna Barriball, a tension between what the works appear to be and what they actually are. Is a framed, full-sized pencil rubbing of a door a drawing of said door, or are its 3D contours a sculptural representation of it? What colour is a loosely rolled-up bale of apparently once-white paper that’s been entirely pencil-shaded? Is a blade-shaped cut out from a piece of white card wrapped in black thread a representation of the titular knife or just an abstract assemblage?
Bold and playful in their formal conceits, Barriball’s works are strongly-conceived, from the eerie slurp and flap of a video piece showing a sheet of paper being sucked into a fireplace, to an autumnal confetti of leaves cut from old curtains and an entire wall painstakingly pencilled with the pattern of soundproofing tiles. The point seems to slip away with one or two pieces – a flashy showcase wall of marker pen-darkened windbreaks, for example – but this is largely a show of focused intention and relaxed humour.
Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Mon 9 Apr.