Harriet Buckby
SHE/HER
As a mixed media artist, my practice explores the dynamic interplay between material, gesture, and objecthood through performative sculptures that transform physical action into residual form.
SHE/HER
My practice centres on the creation of performative sculptures that explore the dynamic interplay between material, gesture, and objecthood. Using painted canvas, rusted chains, and structural brackets, I construct suspended forms that bear the residual marks of physical action. These works operate as both sculptural objects and visual records of embodied processes—evoking the aftermath of unseen gestures and the lingering presence of emotional and psychological states.
For my degree show, Residual, I present a series of three suspended sculptures accompanied by wall-mounted floor mats. The sculptures are supported by gibbet-like wooden brackets, drawing on systems of punishment, ritual, and display. Their flayed, visceral appearance invites a confrontation with themes of vulnerability, violence, and transformation, while their spatial positioning generates a charged tension between intimacy and constraint.
The floor mats, originally used to catch excess paint and debris, function as a residual trace of the making process. Cut, cropped, and affixed to the gallery wall, they transform from a site of labour into forensic relics—elevated for scrutiny. Together, these works investigate how material can embody memory, how space can hold both object and atmosphere, and how creative acts leave behind imprints both physical and emotional.
My practice emerges from a personal need to confront and release unresolved trauma. Through explosive gestures—splashing, kicking and striking—I physically engage the canvas, transforming buried emotions into visible form. The chaos left behind is a residue of resilience: messy, raw, and ultimately transformative.
Email: Harriet.buckby@hotmail.com
Instagram: @Harrietbuckbyart