OBEX 1, KILKENNY LIMESTONE, 2018

The OBEX series is created with stone but consists of combinations of different materials. Badriah has developed a procedure to create new sculptural elements. A good example is OBEX 1. This is a block of Kilkenny Limestone split it two, with in between them a cast from both the sides of the rupture, uniting these surfaces to an independently standing piece.

Where Badriah’s early works were much more about fragility, the works that follow are bold statements. With a hammer and wedges she finds the essence of what lies beneath the matter by splitting it open and showing its insides to us. To the artist the rough surface is like the inner world of the stone, harboring invisible turmoil that can only meet the eye by the act of splitting. There is something within that stone wishing to come out and manifest itself. There is a distinct field of tension in which to work: the stone might crack in a very unpredictable manner, catalyzing a new chain of events in dialogue with the material itself.

Title: [OBEX 1], Kilkenny Limestone, Mixed Media, 90cm x 40cm x 25cm, 2018